Jan is gone and there is no fake budget

Do a search for fake budgets here, and you will understand. We have also had fake-fake budgets in the past. Jan Klein would come up with a fake budget so that the school district could file for Act 1 Exceptions. That would allow the school board to raise taxes above the index. This means the district will not be able to raise taxes by more than the 2.3 percent index — or 0.56 mills — for 2019-20. The most taxes could go up for the next school year would be by $56 per $100,000 of assessed value.

Coincidently, our superintendent didn't get whopping increases as he had in the past, our finance director retired, new auditors have been contracted to audit the books, the Audit and Finance Committee was reinstated, and no more Century of Excellence Capital Campaign.

School taxes could go up in Mt. Lebanon, but only slightly

Protesting Super's Pay Increase

A teacher in Louisiana was hauled off in handcuffs at a school board meeting for protesting the superintendent's pay increase. Teacher’s Arrest For Criticizing Boss’ Pay Raises ‘Serious Constitutional Concerns,’ ACLU Says Here in Mt. Lebanon, teachers may be more subtle.

Watching Monday's school board meeting, I don't know how our superintendent can sit at a school board meeting and not be uncomfortable. Finance director, Jan Klein was talking about the "preliminary budget," once referred to as the "fake budget." She said that she has salaries at 3% (39:25 time stamp). She also emphasized that everything is an unknown at this point, especially with the teachers' contract.

Why should the teachers settle for a 3% increase, when Timmy is sitting there pulling in a 6% increase this July? We have the old school board to thank for that brilliant contract.

We don't have teachers being arrested over our super's pay increases, but it should be interesting to see what the new teachers' contract will cost Mt. Lebanon. Thanks to Timmy and his supporters for putting us in this position. A special thanks to Elaine Cappucci who played a major part in that decision and will be voting to accept the teachers' contract for her son.

Redoubling and the fake, fake budget

Mt. Lebanon schools seek guidance, engage students after discovery of swastika

“We have redoubled our efforts with students,” Mr. Steinhauer told school board members during their meeting Monday night.

What does Timmy mean? Are the schools doubling or quadrupling efforts? I haven't heard that term used outside of the game, Bridge. I did a quick search and found some explanations. 

Redouble is used by politicians to make it sound like they care and are working really hard on solving a problem. Thank to them, current meaning is hollow and means nothing.

Redouble is an example of malapropism. The word "malapropism" (and its earlier variant "malaprop") comes from a character named "Mrs.Malaprop" in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals. Mrs. Malaprop frequently misspeaks (to comic effect) by using words which don't have the meaning that she intends but which sound similar to words that do. 

Oh, tough call. It could go either way. Irregardless (get it?), it is nice to know that the school district has taken steps to educate our children and reinforce its policies of non-discrimination.

Also, at Monday's school board meeting, school board directors discussed the fake, fake budget.

The state’s Act 1 index limits the district to a tax increase of no more than 2.5 percent, or a new tax rate of 24.5282 mills.
Because the proposed budget is 0.2318 mills over that cap, the district will seek exemptions from the state Department of Education for pension and special education costs.
Board president Mary Birks reminded taxpayers that the final budget -- to be passed in June -- may not necessarily include a tax increase of that size.
“This is a preliminary, preliminary budget,” she said.

Is the final budget really going to be passed in June? Historically, the budget has been passed in mid-May, well before final numbers are available to the District.  If this is the case, another step (baby step) in the right direction.

Presenting the 2017-2018 Fake Budget

At one time, Janice Klein referred to the preliminary budget as "the fake budget." Jan Klein, whose title changed from Finance Director to Director of Business explained that the purpose of the preliminary budget is to be able to apply for exceptions to the Index limitation on real estate tax rates. I would like to present Jan Klein's 2017-2018 Fake Budget.

The Post-Gazette reports that according to the "preliminary" budget, our taxes should increase by 0.83 mills to 24.76 mills. Mt. Lebanon begins work on school budget

Lebo Citizen readers might want to do a search for "fake budget" on this blog. Read about how Mt. Lebanon resident Bill Matthews demonstrates to the Department of Education how the District annually submits a fake preliminary budget. Bill and I have attended District budget meetings, where we were both treated rudely. The audios of those meetings are still available on lebocitizens.com. For obvious reasons, those meetings have been discontinued.

For those of you who are new to this process, this is usually when the school board directors like to speak in terms of lattes or pizzas. Just cut back on buying lattes, we were instructed. From 2012, we were told about a $30 million fundraising campaign. Spin Class 101 We are still in the quiet phase of the now $6 million Century of Excellence Campaign. I would love to know how much is in that account. Maybe it will show up in the fake Final Budget.

How the School District CHEATS Mt. Lebanon taxpayers

While the focus here has been primarily directed toward the municipality's deer, our school district has been up to their old tricks preparing the legally required Preliminary Budget, a.k.a. "fake budget."

Mt. Lebanon resident and Lebo Citizens reader, William Matthews demonstrates to the Department of Education how the District annually submits a fake preliminary budget when the “PDE will only approve referendum exceptions if the school district demonstrates a need for exceptions by adopting a balanced preliminary budget that contains a tax rate increase in excess of the school district’s index.” In his letters, Bill asks the PDE to perform a detailed review of our preliminary budget and reject the Mt. Lebanon School District 2015-2016 Preliminary Budget.

Yesterday, I received the following email from Bill:

Dear friends and neighbors. 

The School District's approach in preparing its Preliminary Budget, continues to disappoint. 

The attached letters have been sent to our Superintendent and School Board, and I am sharing with you this afternoon. 

Feel free to share with other friends and neighbors. 

Best regards, 

Bill

From: Bill Matthews
To: tsteinhauer <tsteinhauer@mtlsd.net>
Cc: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>; jklein <jklein@mtlsd.net>; tpeterson <tpeterson@tuckerlaw.com>
Sent: Wed, Feb 11, 2015 6:11 pm

Subject: Preliminary Budget - Mt. Lebanon School District.
Dr. Steinhauer:

I submitted the attached letters to PDE this week, outlining some of my thoughts on our Preliminary Budgets.

Take care,

Bill


Mt. Lebanon School District/Pennsylvania Department of Education Preliminary Budget 02.08.15  letter
[Editor's note: Normally, the school board should have been meeting tonight, but the January 12, 2015 agenda shows: Preliminary Budget - Act 1 of 2006 requires the Board approve a Preliminary Budget on the State form before February 18, 2015. Since the Board’s February meeting is after that date, we are presenting the budget for approval in January.
The School Board also met on February 9, 2015.]


Mt. Lebanon School District/Pennsylvania Department of Education Preliminary Budget 02.09.15 letter

ANOTHER consultant for the capital campaign? UPDATED

School board meeting agenda for Monday, January 12, 2015

John, is it in poor taste to complain about ANOTHER consultant for the capital campaign?

Independent Contractor Agreement – This is an agreement with Margaret M. Schmidt to provide consulting services for the capital campaign at a rate of $62.50 per hour, not to exceed $2,000 per month, up to a maximum of 32 hours per month. The Superintendent recommends approval of this agreement. Of course.

What is the number of people working on the capital campaign now, not including Pursuant Ketchum? Are we ever going to get an accounting of the funds?

Also on the agenda is the approval of Jan Klein's fake budget. It's a peach this year.

Preliminary Budget - Act 1 of 2006 requires the Board approve a Preliminary Budget on the State form before February 18, 2015. Since the Board’s February meeting is after that date, we are presenting the budget for approval in January. In order to preserve the Board’s right to apply for exceptions to the Index under Act 1, this budget necessarily exceeds the Index. In April, a Proposed Budget will be presented to the Board for consideration which will not have to have the same millage rate as the one presented for Board consideration this month. By that time, we will know our proposed State funding, preliminary staffing numbers, retirement projections, student 2 course selections and heath care rates. The Preliminary Budget totals $91,880,396 utilizing $750,000 of the fund balance with a millage rate of 23.81 mills, a .66 mill increase. Only a .44 mill increase is allowable under the Act 1 Index. The Superintendent recommends approval of this budget. Of course.

Finally, the January change orders are listed for approval.

Change Orders for High School Renovation Project – The change orders for the high school project total $68,519 this month with another $50,800 for insurance claims. The change orders are as follows: 

a. GC-109-262 to Nello for $60,909 for door, partition, wall, concrete and masonry work,
b. EL-74-263 to Farfield for $7,610 for piping, lights and safety revisions,
c. IN-09-11 to Farfield for $37,728 for cable repairs, and
d. IN-10-12 to McKamish for $13,072 for HVAC repairs. 

The Superintendent recommends approval of these change orders. Of course. 

Update January 13, 2015 5:38 PM Higher school taxes likely coming to Mt. Lebanon

"...we nearly have a tax revolt going here."

In The Almanac's Mt. Lebanon schools face $2.6 million shortfall in budget article, Elaine Cappucci said that they will have to raise millage again, or "decimate" its education system. 

Most board members hope to target somewhere between a 0.5 and 0.55 mill tax increase, and to use between $750,000 and $1 million of the fund balance. 

Dan Remely was alone in preferring a significantly smaller tax increase of .25 mills. He favors using $1.5 million of fund balance. 

“There comes a point where we have to figure out some way to protect taxpayers as well as our other stakeholders,” he said. “I am concerned we nearly have a tax revolt going here. Our schools draw people into Mt. Lebanon. These families are then being taxed even further, as we’re seeing in the papers.” 

Remely’s comment references a controversial practice whereby the municipality of Mt. Lebanon targeted recent home buyers for property reassessments at or very near their homes’ sale prices – a practice the affected families have dubbed the “Mt. Lebanon Newcomer’s Tax.” Some of these residents’ tax bills increased by thousands of dollars following their reassessments.

I don't know about anyone else, but I am getting pretty tired of this well-worn script. To use a Jan Kleinism, it is "typical for this time of year." We can speak of bonuses, trophy cases, and lucrative raises any other time of the year, but come February and March, they all start crying the blues. They even put out fake budgets. Searching for the words "fake budget" on Lebo Citizens, I found Fake budget will be posted soon. We get the same lists of unknowns. We know, that darn governor... But how do you do it? You want to make cuts far away from the student, yet manage to give Timmy his raise every year.  What are you cutting this year? FLES?

Word is that "The Grievance" doesn't look good for the school district. Still hoping to hear any time now, right? Of course, "typical for this time of year."

For more on what Dan Remely refers to as a tax revolt, read Valuation changes, fairness pledged in Mt. Lebanon. 

Comments on comments?

Last night's school board meeting was very interesting, as far as citizens' comments go. Topics included:

• Financial advisor 
• MTLSD does not take the preliminary budget seriously. We are the only school district that refers to it as a "fake budget."
• Trophy case
• Zamagias TIF
• Pool railing
• Pool locker room floor is slippery
• Meeting was not available for viewing last week.
• Agendas are not publicized before meetings
• Trouble with teacher at Howe School

Without naming names, I would like to hear more about the situation at Howe School. The mother was cut off at the knees by the president and solicitor when she was speaking. 

As far as the TIF goes, while one commissioner was removing her blog over the weekend, another commissioner posted this: Washington Park, corner of Bower Hill and Washington Road In December, Zamagias defaulted on their TIF loan. Mt. Lebanon has the opportunity to buy it back out of the Parking Fund, I believe. Please contact our commissioners, Senator Matt Smith's office, or Representative Dan Miller's office and share your opinion on this topic.

I would love to hear from Lebo Citizen readers about all these topics which were raised at last night's meeting. 

To listen to the meeting please visit Lebo Citizens podcast from MTLSD's January 20, 2014 meeting

Preliminary budget shows 1 mill tax increase

The School District has posted the 2014-15 Preliminary General Fund Budget, a.k.a. The Fake Budget. From the January 13, 2014 Agenda:

Preliminary Budget - Act 1 of 2006 requires the Board approve a preliminary budget at this time of year so that application may be made for any applicable exceptions to the Index which is 2.1% for 2014-15. Such a budget has been available for public view on our website since December 18, 2013 and is presented in the required State form for Board approval. While this budget reflects a millage increase high enough so that all applicable exceptions may be requested, the Final Budget approved in proposed form in April and in final form in May does not require the millage reflected in this preliminary form. The superintendent recommends approval of this legally required budget.

The fake budget is showing a .99 millage increase. The fake budget will be adopted at the January 20, 2014 school board business meeting.

Lebo math at its finest

A reader submitted this for consideration. It appears that Jan Klein's numbers are not adding up.

Look at the Estimated value of Community Assessment in 2013 chart which was dated 8-May-13.

Assessed Value Per Tax Office (5/3/13): $ 2 ,715,449,015

The next line is interesting.

Less Historical % of Liens at Year End est at 1.6%: 43,447,184

Every year, this shows up in the budget. However, it never shows up as revenue when the liens are satisfied. They get paid eventually. Classic example is the $2.3 million windfall for the Covenant. Liens are deducted in the budget which cause the millage to go up.  We pay for the liens through our taxes and then when the District collects the liens, we never get a refund or see it budgeted.

Back to the chart. See the 22.61 mills in the orange box? That is our new millage for 2013-2014.  But Jan Klein skipped a step. The Anti Windfall Law requires that she first needed to establish the revenue neutral tax rate. That number is 21.17 mills.  How do you get the 21.17 millage? Take $54,914,220 (Budget- Real Estate Taxes at 2012-13 Millage Rate) and divide it by $2,593,675,608 (Adjusted Assessed Value) in the green box. That is the true millage neutral rate.  Jan's number is 6.8% over the revenue neutral tax rate, or a 1.44 mill increase.

Doing the Lebo math:

  22.61 (Jan's millage)
 -21.17 (millage neutral)
1.44 mill increase or 6.8% over the revenue neutral tax rate


Let's look at the "20%" reduction in millage. (Blue Box)

 27.13 mills (2012-2013)
-22.61 mills (2013-2014)
4.52 mills

That is a 16.66052340582381% reduction, not 20% reduction!  Percentage calculator

I think there is some explaining to do, School Board. It ain't adding up.

It starts at the top, Tim

In The Almanac "Mt. Lebanon mulls raising school taxes" (Saved in Google Docs) article:

School superintendent Dr. Tim Steinhauer explained that given a .55 mill tax increase, he believed the district could find the necessary cost savings without significantly impacting student programming. Staff attrition, adjustments to data warehousing and reductions in travel expenses for school board, teachers and administrators would all help close the budget gap.

Pay freezes for Tim Steinhauer and Jan Klein would also help close the budget gap, as their USC counterparts did last year. But nooooo, that will never happen. The board will continue to give them increases. Instead, the board continually bad mouths Governor Corbett, never taking responsibility for the mess we're in. I rolled my eyes when Bill Cooper said that .55 millage increase is like no increase at all. Huh? It would put us over 28 mills, Bill. An increase is still an increase.

Dale Ostergaard and Scott Goldman would like to see a zero millage increase.

The preliminary, a.k.a fake, budget presentation made by Jan Klein and Tim Steinhauer is available here.

Field Maintenance, Capital Campaign, and Budget

Three topics for discussion at tomorrow's school board meeting:

1. Field Maintenance Bid Award – The Board will discuss the field maintenance services that have been provided by the Municipality. The field maintenance services were engaged to improve School District fields since 1999. The District has solicited bids from other companies and the costs will be reviewed.

2. Capital Campaign Counsel – The Board will discuss the engagement of Campaign Counsel for a potential Capital Campaign.

3. 2013-2014 Budget Presentation – Information concerning the preparation of the 2013-14 Budget will be presented to the Board.

Field Maintenance: Glad to see the Municipality is getting out of the School Fields Maintenance business. What does this mean for the YSA? Probably a topic for discussion with the new Sports Advisory Board. Chip Dalesandro, who represents both football and baseball, will say that all was paid up, while the Franklins will be there to confirm it.

Capital Campaign Counsel: I am assuming we are going with Pursuant Ketchum. Capital Campaign Counsel.

2013-2014 Budget: Are we getting fake information concerning the fake preparation for the fake budget?

MTLSD Preliminary Budget Posted

School Board Approves Prelimary Budget for 2013-2014

At the January 21, 2013 Regular School Board meeting, the School Board approved the Preliminary Budget, as required by the State, for the 2013-2014 school year, in the amount of $84,469,784. The 2013-2014 Preliminary Budget is available for public view and will be presented for approval at the February 18, 2013 Board meeting. The School Board directed the administration to apply for exceptions to the Index limit under Act 1 of 2006 as further refined under Act 25 of 2011.

The Final Budget for 2013-14 will be voted on by the Board in May. Over the next few months, the School Board and administration will discuss a wide range of budget issues in order to set the millage rate for 2013-2014. Information, including budget documents and videos of budget discussions, will be posted on this website.

http://www.mtlsd.org/District/Budget/default.asp

Nailed it!

In my post, Fake budget will be posted soon I predicted that "soon" is District Speak for one month's time. Monday's School Board Agenda dated January 21, 2013, which was posted today,

(2) Preliminary Budget: RESOLVED, That the Board approves the preparation of a Preliminary Budget for the 2013-2014 school year, in the amount of $84,469,784. Such budget is to be made available for public view and presented for approval at the February 18, 2013, Board meeting. The Board directs the administration to apply for exceptions to the Index limit under Act 1 of 2006 as further refined under Act 25 of 2011 as may be permitted.

Is it real? Is it fake? Will we ever know? Notice how "as further refined under Act 25 of 2011" was added to the resolution? I linked Act 25 of 2011 for all to read.