Oley Valley School Board Ignores Petitions
The Oley Valley School Board was presented with 150 petition signatures for a No Tax Increase 2006 Budget on June 14,2006.
The community needed relief from the unrelenting increase in their school property taxes.
The district told the public prior to the June 21, 2006 meeting, they had $5,000,000 sitting in off-budget funds.
With the $5,000,000, the board could have a no tax increase budget without cutting any programs and still be within the state budget guidelines.
Nonetheless, board members Robert A. Heckman, Ralph C. Richard, Barbara M. Bieber, Scarlette Z. Gotwals, Christopher M. Hannum, David M. Maloney, Mary Anne McCarthy approved an increase to 22.50 mills.
Board members Robert J. Cappa and Kerry Madeira were not present to vote.
The increase means homeowners will be paying $2,250 per $100,000 of assessed value, a sixty percent increase since 1999.
The board ignored the requests of petitioners. Instead, they raised taxes for the seventh consecutive year.
According to the financials handed out after the meeting, the district had over $6,000,000 not the $5,000,000 they had indicated in off-budget funds. They raised taxes anyway.
The spending and taxing decisions of the school board are substandard.
The Oley Valley School District choose to spend up to $1,300,000 on a synthetic track. With the discovery of $6,000,000 in off-budget funds, the community wonders what other non-educational expenditure the board has in mind.
The board approved a teacher contract that will give 4.6% salary increases over the next five years, along with near full health benefits.
The board approved a $13,000 one-year pay increase for the superintendent.
The state did not mandate the track, the teacher contract, or the one-year superintendent windfall.
Salaries and benefits constitute a major portion of school budgets.
School boards, such as the Oley Valley School District are spending at such a reckless pace that the state is planning to institute financial controls.
The state is sending a message to the boards to act in a more fiscally responsible manner.
The citizens can have that opportunity in May 2007 with new, taxpayer faces elected to the board.
The community needed relief from the unrelenting increase in their school property taxes.
The district told the public prior to the June 21, 2006 meeting, they had $5,000,000 sitting in off-budget funds.
With the $5,000,000, the board could have a no tax increase budget without cutting any programs and still be within the state budget guidelines.
Nonetheless, board members Robert A. Heckman, Ralph C. Richard, Barbara M. Bieber, Scarlette Z. Gotwals, Christopher M. Hannum, David M. Maloney, Mary Anne McCarthy approved an increase to 22.50 mills.
Board members Robert J. Cappa and Kerry Madeira were not present to vote.
The increase means homeowners will be paying $2,250 per $100,000 of assessed value, a sixty percent increase since 1999.
The board ignored the requests of petitioners. Instead, they raised taxes for the seventh consecutive year.
According to the financials handed out after the meeting, the district had over $6,000,000 not the $5,000,000 they had indicated in off-budget funds. They raised taxes anyway.
The spending and taxing decisions of the school board are substandard.
The Oley Valley School District choose to spend up to $1,300,000 on a synthetic track. With the discovery of $6,000,000 in off-budget funds, the community wonders what other non-educational expenditure the board has in mind.
The board approved a teacher contract that will give 4.6% salary increases over the next five years, along with near full health benefits.
The board approved a $13,000 one-year pay increase for the superintendent.
The state did not mandate the track, the teacher contract, or the one-year superintendent windfall.
Salaries and benefits constitute a major portion of school budgets.
School boards, such as the Oley Valley School District are spending at such a reckless pace that the state is planning to institute financial controls.
The state is sending a message to the boards to act in a more fiscally responsible manner.
The citizens can have that opportunity in May 2007 with new, taxpayer faces elected to the board.
