Vote “yes” on the Eldred Central School budget

Last month the Eldred Central School District had the unenviable distinction of being the only district in Sullivan County to have its 2004-05 budget defeated at the polls.

Voters gave various reasons for the budget’s failure, which included opposition to what was seen as large administrative staff salary increases and questions about the accuracy of the district’s forecast of the resulting September tax increase.

There are some unknowns in forecasting revenues. The state legislature historically increases the governor’s proposed school aid request and local assessment rolls won’t be finalized until late summer, so a tentative roll must be used.

But the tentative rolls show a tax base growth of 11 percent, or some $50 million in new property value. So the $900,000 increase in the district levy is spread on an 11 percent wider base. The resulting tax rate, per thousand dollars of assessed value goes from $14.64 to $14.96, an increase of 2.19 percent.

In their defense, school officials said the salary increases only brought Eldred salaries up to the levels of those in surrounding districts.

Some voters said ‘Fine, but don’t do it in one lump. Spread it out over a couple of years.’

While that is a valid point, over the years lopsided double-digit salary increases have appeared in town and county budgets on occasion with little or no comment from the public.

But, as we all know, the school budget is the one government budget that the general public gets to vote on directly.

It has had the disadvantage of coming before the voters in the middle of the local assessment appeal season. With ongoing reassessments in Highland and Lumberland, where an active real estate market has increased property values, the school budget became an easy licking boy for unhappy property owners.

None of the above should be interpreted as a defense for the current property tax system for funding education. When it was created, property ownership better equated to wealth. Today it would seem to be more closely related to personal debt.

Reform movements are being discussed all around. Lumberland Supervisor John LiGreci wants to freeze home tax rates at purchase prices. The late Assemblyman Jacob Gunther argued that education could be funded by the state lottery and Pennsylvania officials are talking about a sales tax system to replace property taxes for school funding.

Until there is reform, we have to deal with the system in place, and refusing to properly fund public education is in no one’s benefit in the long run. While more money provides no guarantee of a good education, the denial of education funding makes the job that much more difficult. Neglecting public education won’t make our costs go away, but it will make it less likely that others will invest another $50 million in our towns to help reduce our taxes next year.

Vote down the budget and next year, when insurance and pension costs rise again and the costs of staff and faculty cuts are translated into state mandates for improved performance, the board of education will be forced to replace all the lost spending from this year in addition to new costs.

Whether you have kids or not, no one likes the idea of paying higher taxes, but the fact is that unless and until we make reforms, we are all going to be paying higher taxes. Our communities are growing and healthy communities demand good public education to remain healthy. In the final analysis, it’s not a matter of whether you pay or not, but whether you pay for maintenance or repairs.

Dr. Punnybone

The Situation Room