Don't Cheat Taxpayers With Worn-Out Rhetoric

It's that time of year again - - budget season for both the school board and the municipality. The difference this year is that the proverbial chickens are coming home to roost. Mayor David Stahl is facing the predictable results of several years of Golden Triangle nonsense and the Board of Education needs to face up to many many years of foolish spending. Cutting garbage collection to once per week and espousing the same old 'for the children' rhetoric, as Ms. Cornavaca did in her recent editorial letter, won't begin to address the financial challenges our township and taxpayers face. Our state debt is approaching $45 billion and the Governor has yet to release what promises to be a budget that many will complain about: both because it cuts too much and because it doesn't cut enough. When the budget is finally released I expect it will send municipalities, school districts and taxpayers scrambling to deal with even greater cuts in state aid and possible elimination of the electioneering boondoggle known as Property Tax Rebates. The inescapable truth is that property taxes will go up and will likely go up a lot even before the school board releases their budget. An equally inescapable truth is that property values are no longer tied to the 'reputation of the school district' or how 'desirable a place this is to live.' The meltdown in the national economy combined with out-of-control political spending has more impact on property values than the threadbare 'school reputation' axiom. The school board needs to recognize these changing circumstances and present a realistic budget that isn't pre-padded with items to be cut should it fail to gain voter approval. The school board should not punish parents and students for a defeated budget by instituting even more usage charges while continuing to pay exorbitant administrator salaries. There are currently forty-three administrators who collectively teach not a single class and yet cost the district $4.9 million each year in base salary alone. Do we really need to pay six-figure salaries for a superintendent, a deputy superintendent and an assistant superintendent while we're charging parents for the wood stock used in shop classes? In this economy does the school board really expect taxpayers to embrace yet another bond issue, putting us further in debt on the rationale of we need to grab state funds while they exist? Building a brand new elementary school instead of doing the needed repairs to Memorial is fiscally irresponsible. It's time to have an honest discussion about what the township can afford in 2009 instead of where we hoped we would be or what we dreamed we could do. It's time to face the reality of credit card spending and focus on what will make a difference for our children instead of what will enhance the reputation of our adults. The expectation of 'great services at good prices' has become a fantasy in the retail world and is simply hubris when applied to our current municipal and education funding challenges.