"Disgusted with Government" UPDATED 12/29/17

That's what Mt. Lebanon resident and Lebo Citizens Reader, Rudy Bies had to say yesterday when he tried to prepay his taxes.

Residents could have save thousands of dollars had Mt. Lebanon cooperated with its taxpayers. It would have been a win-win situation.

But Miss High and Mighty Morgans said that Mt. Lebanon can't violate its Home Rule Charter.

We NEVER make exceptions, do we? What would have happened if we had? If you want reasonable government, consider moving to Upper St. Clair, Peters Township, or Bethel Park. They look out for their residents.

Read more: New tax rules befuddle some property owners, make early birds out of others

Update December 29, 2017 8:51 PM I wanted to share the following with Lebo Citizens Readers. Rudy Bies emailed some more of his thoughts on this topic.

I am sending this just for the record to support why I believe the residents of Mt. Lebanon were treated very poorly by our very own local government. 

Below is the link for a PDF of the

LOCAL TAX COLLECTION LAW
Act of May. 25, 1945, P.L. 1050, No. 394

This is the law that Joe Senko, Mt. Lebanon Treasurer gave to me and it was his excuse as to why he could not accept any 2018 tax payment in 2017.

 

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/PDF/1945/0/0394..PDF

To make it easy -I have highlighted below what is found near the bottom of page

19 of 37, of the attached PDF, which is a copy of the law.

 

 

Section 15. Receiving County Taxes Not Assessed and Adding

Names to Duplicates Prohibited.--It shall not be lawful for any

county treasurer, county commissioner or any tax collector, nor

for any other person, on his or their behalf, to receive payment

or give any receipt for the payment of any taxes that have not

been duly assessed and returns of said assessment made according

to law, nor shall any such treasurer, commissioner or tax

collector, or other person on his or their behalf, receive

payment or give any receipt for the payment of any taxes from

the collection of which the tax collector has been exonerated

according to law....  

I have bolded above and underlined the key provisions.

In short - it is unlawful to "receive payment or give any receipt"...

CONCEPT ONE

Most of us taxpayers are quite content to use our cancelled check as a receipt.

So we as taxpayers are not asking anyone one to give us a receipt, at least not at this time, as many are concerned about their federal tax deduction.

CONCEPT TWO

Notice above - how poorly the law is written - it states that the collector is not allowed to receive payment.

The collector has no control over the taxpayer.  When a taxpayer chooses to mail their tax payment to the tax office and the tax office opens the mail, the tax payment has obviously been received. That fact can not be changed.

SUMMARY

Please don't read the above law with an approach for what it should say or what may have been intended - I ask that you simply read it for what it actually says and to read it from a perspective of how you could accommodate the taxpayers if you were in a position of "authority".

Notice above that I have highlighted in red that the law also includes the County, yet Allegheny County was quite helpful in accommodating the tax payers - Joe Senko was not.

It would seem that there was absolutely no effort made to accommodate  the taxpaying residents of Mt. Lebanon, not by our local government, not by our state legislature, and not by our governor, who could have easily issued an executive order.

School Board Candidate Rudy Bies responds to PTA Questions

PTA Questions to School Board Candidates

By Rudy Bies   Nov. 5, 2011

Recently the PTA requested that School Board candidates respond to various questions.

At the time of the PTA request, I was not a candidate for School Board.  It was just days ago that I was asked if I was willing to have my name submitted for a write in campaign. Accordingly, I am responding now for the purpose of giving a reader some idea if I was someone that may be more representative of their viewpoint; and accordingly, be someone that was more worthy of their vote.

1. Please list your education, occupation and other background and how that qualifies you to be a school director.

I graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School.  I have a degree in accounting, minor in economics.  I am a CPA and one of five owners of an accounting firm.  Served on four corporate boards including a non- profit organization. Served as president of two companies that either I started or co founded and served in the United States Army.  I have spent my life assisting others in improving their business as well as financial and economic counseling.

2. What do you think is the best way to resolve differences with School Board members and how do you approach working with members who don’t share you view of a project?

Differences are not always resolved.  If you have passion for a position, make your position known.  Do the obvious, research that which can be researched, present the facts, have an honest debate, work with others with the knowledge that their opinions are also valuable.  Listen and maybe others will see my point or maybe I will see their point.

3. What do you believe is the School Board’s role is in the operation of the School District?

The School Board is a Board – they need to set or change policy when the paid administration has conflict or are performing poorly.  An administration needs the freedom and an operating environment in order to succeed and a School Board should allow that administration to do just that.   Balanced, of course, with the responsibility that a flawed administration is simply unacceptable and school boards must take appropriate action.

4. What are your primary objectives if elected?  If any of them require additional funding, how will they be paid for?

The High School Project needs completed.  I don’t think it is unfair to say that it has taken too long.  The School Board should provide to each member of the community two, maybe three different high school renovation plans in March 2012. The plans should contain enough detail and reasonable cost estimates so that those who care enough to vote could do so in a May 2012 referendum.  This is a major expenditure

with significant issues.  There is no reason to formally exclude the public from the process.  Issues of this magnitude should not simply be decided on by a nine member Board, but should be decided based upon the desire of the community.

The education system tends to teach subjects.  I’d like to see us do a better job of preparing our children for life.  A lack of knowledge in practical economics affects how we vote and of course, how we vote affects the outcome of our country.  If you would like examples of what I mean, please read on, otherwise, skip to the next question.

Do our schools teach students how to buy a car or a house?  Are we even taught when we need an attorney or an accountant?  Are we taught the importance of reading and understanding mortgage and other loan documents?  Are we taught how to prepare a basic income tax return?   Are we taught how to balance a checking account, the importance of saving, and just some the fundamentals of investing?  Does the education system prepare us to understand what is discussed by our elected officials?  What destroys a nation’s currency?  Price controls, tariffs, speculators, commodities markets, and quantitative easing (QE 1 and QE 2) – are these good or bad?  

The fundamental and traditional roles of our Schools are obviously important –

but we do need more.  I’d like us to prepare our students so that the students and our Country are better.

5.  Do you have any specific changes you want to make to School District policies, programs or curricula.  If so – what and why?

I have outlined quite a bit with my answer in the above question.  The implementation is important to me.  The teacher of such a program has to be passionate about the importance of being prepared for life.  It should be a class that is so sought after that we struggle to find individuals that share the passion of

preparing our children for the life that awaits them.

6.  What impact do you think Dr. Steinhauer’s recent administration re-organization will have on student achievement?

Don’t know.  It is done.  So let’s see how it works.  No reason to second guess at this point.

7.  How have the recent state budget cuts directly impacted Mt. Lebanon schools?

Obviously schools are impacted.  Larger funding cuts are likely.  The exact and future impact will resonate probably for years to come.  Look to Washington D.C., the Super Committee, annual budget deficits of 1.5 trillion, a National Debt of almost 15 trillion, these are very difficult times.  Our Nation’s severe fiscal problems will affect states, municipalities, and all of us.  We have enjoyed the benefits of borrowed money for too long.  Will we respond quickly?  Do we even realize the extreme severity of the problem?

8.  Do you support vouchers and/or school choice legislation.  What effects would such legislation have on the district budget and programming?

It is still America.  Who am I to deny you the right to choose what you believe is best for your children?  Could this have an adverse consequence?  Sure – at first, but the end result is competition.  Last time I played any competitive sport, I never saw anyone who was worse off because of competition.

9.  What cost saving measures do you support and what types of effect would they have on the district?

I am going to combine my answer for 9 and 10 – so see below.

10.  What possible revenue generating measures for the district would you support and why?

We need legislative action from the Pennsylvania Legislature.  So not our problem?  Wrong!  The following are problems for all of us.  We must do all we can to meaningfully address issues like school district pensions, the student to teacher classroom ratio, the teachers’ contract, and whether school districts should use real estate taxes as the major source of tax revenue.  We need to adopt something that is fairer, especially for those that are retired and now may not be able to keep their homes because of rising real estate taxes. 

A unified position statement by James Cannon, Paula Bongiorno, Rudy Bies, Charlotte Stephenson, and Joseph Wertheim

The Mt. Lebanon School Board Candidates

November 4, 2011

A unified position statement by James Cannon, Paula Bongiorno, Rudy Bies,

Charlotte Stephenson, and Joseph Wertheim

We must remember what happened over 200 years ago when people pledged their honor, their personal savings and their very lives so that we could have a government of the people, by the people and once again for the people.

Public Servants should do their best, serve and go home. We can debate the length of the term, but multiple political terms all too often affect communities adversely.

Whether it is Washington, Harrisburg, the City of Pittsburgh or Mt. Lebanon, spending must be controlled at all levels of government.  As a nation, we simply cannot continue to borrow and spend.  Our Country has almost 15 trillion dollars of debt.  If meaningful action is not taken, our debt will exceed 25 trillion in less than ten years.  The interest on that amount of debt could easily exceed the total annual federal tax revenue.  The money in the Social Security Trust Fund is incapable of sustaining the demand for the participants future needs because it has been spent.  If this position does not change then the U.S Dollar will decline. 

So what does this have to do with the Mt. Lebanon School District?  Simply put, difficult financial decisions must be made to avoid future financial problems.

The following information, taken from the School District web site, is important for you to know.

                                                                                2001                    2010          

    

Total School District Expenditures                   $50,819,000           $76,621,000

Annual Revenue from Real Estate Taxes          $34,466,000           $51,697,000

Annual Cost per Pupil                                           $8,960                   $14,451

At current cost levels, a High School Diploma will cost $173,412.

The School District borrowed $69 million in October of 2009.  This money was to be used for the High School Project.  How many of us would borrow money to build a home, and allow more than two years to pass before beginning construction? What bank would even loan the money to us?  

Early in 2010 the School Board, explaining certain aspects of the High School project, mailed a glossy brochure to the residents. We believe that our residents deserve a more cost-effective alternative based on more accurate enrollment statistics than those presented.

We believe the School Board should consider an alternative to the high school renovation plans.  The plans should contain enough detail and reasonable cost estimates so that those who care enough to vote could do so in a May 2012 referendum.  This is a major expenditure with significant issues that affect every person and business in Mt. Lebanon.  There is no reason to formally exclude anyone in Mt. Lebanon from the process.  Projects of this magnitude should be decided based upon the desire of the entire community.

Many difficult issues face our school district which will require legislative action from the Pennsylvania Legislature.  We must do all that we can to address these issues such as adopting a taxation model that is more fair, especially for those who are retired and now may not be able to keep their homes because of rising real estate taxes. 

School Boards have responsibilities to the students, the teachers, local government and most importantly, they must always function with a deep respect for the public.

If you care, please vote.  If you like the current situation and feel no concern for our community’s future economic stability, elect the incumbents.  If you want a School Board that is willing to do their best in consideration of these various issues we will soon face as a community, in addition to selecting James Cannon on the ballot, please write-in the names of the four candidates, Paula Bongiorno, Rudy Bies, Charlotte Stephenson, and Joseph Wertheim.  All five have similar motivations for running, and all five have their own individual reasons. Feel free to reach out to each before Tuesday, November 8th.

Their contact information is as follows:

James Cannon, jcannon2011@verizon.net

Rudy Bies
Charlotte Stephenson, stephensoncs@verizon.net

Joseph Wertheim, jhwertheim@aol.com

Paula Bongiorno, genpau@aol.com

Thank You!