The Prudence Of Voters

To the Editor:

Are all taxpayers fully aware that our economy is getting much worse daily with ever-increasing job losses? What happens when unemployment benefits run out? And since our houses have lost near 30 percent in value, why are our taxes not lower?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased at the rate of 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to a decrease of only 1.3 percent for the third quarter of 2008. This is after some 17 months of recession that could continue another several years. Look at our high school addition; if we did not vote down the $6.5 million in extra funds, we could have ended up paying about $45 million for the addition, versus the new price of around $36 million. That is $9 million in savings or some 20 percent less.

This did not happen because of great school management by our Board of Education, but because of Newtown voters exercising prudence. The same prudence is necessary again regarding our vote for the new budget April 28. The planned 4.5 percent increase in the schools budget during the current decreases in GDP really equates to about a 9.5 percent increase. This is not good management. This constant type of overspending helped lead our country into the current financial crisis.

Aren’t you as taxpayers tired of our school official’s and school lobby’s constant “whining” and “give me more” attitude. “No, that’s not enough, we still want more.” “Sorry if you are not getting a pay raise, we demand one regardless of current conditions and even though around 8.6 percent of taxpayers are out of work.” (While the rest of us have either had our pay frozen or had to take pay cuts of 2 percent to as much as 12 percent.}

Though most of us are grateful to have a job, our school administration would rather threaten layoffs of teachers as long as they get their 4.54 percent increase. But under the current circumstances of continued increasing decline of GDP, that equates this to about a 9.5 percent pay increase. This increase should not be supported. Heck, of they just froze the school budget at last year’s level that would still equal a good increase versus the current GDP contraction.

Additionally, anytime the school budget does not pass, the school lobby whines about how much that will cut from their budget. This mistakenly assumes that a new proposed budget already belongs to them, even though taxpayers and voters have not yet approved it. Note: Since no one is really cutting anything below last year’s (previously approved) budget, our schools have not really experienced any actual budget cuts. What they have experienced is only small cuts in “proposed” new spending, but still resulted in spending growth.

Christel Kormanik

85 Great Ring Road, Sandy Hook                                  April 22, 2009