'Why do school boards raise property taxes? Because they can'

This Letter to the Editor, originally published in The Mercury, is about the Pottstown School District, but it applies to just about every school district in Pennsylvania. Student enrollment has declined steadily in Pottstown over the past two decades, but spending has risen dramatically. Why? And what happens to sane residents who win seats on school boards? Why do they rubber-stamp everything administrators ask for?Why do school boards raise property taxes? Because they can
The Pottstown School Board is once again gouging Pottstown taxpayers with a 5.7 percent tax hike. The excuse this year is that the real estate assessments fell and therefore are not generating as much revenue as last year.
The article that detailed the board's decision in Saturday's edition of The Mercury stated that the $53.4 million budget passed without any public discussion among the board members. Are you kidding me? Back in February when the preliminary budget was presented, I remember Linda Adams saying that was not the time to discuss the details of the budget and she was applying to Harrisburg for permission for an even larger increase. The board in its infinite wisdom voted unanimously to let her do this.
Well, when is the time to discuss the details of the budget? Is it only done during a finance committee meeting, that then reports back to the board that there are absolutely no ways to trim the increase in spending? Hello, we are talking about a $3 million increase in school district spending for 2009/2010.
Board member, Nat White, did try to identify some areas in the budget that might be reduced, only to be told that most those expenditures are funded by grants. I find that hard to believe. The budget contained some very significant increases in a number of categories. Furthermore, the Pottstown School District's budget does not detail specifically what programs are funded by grants, but in a $53.4 million budget there is room to look for savings. The school board should instruct the administration to find a specified dollar amount in savings. Most members of this school board sit silently and do not question the administration on their free spending ways.
I fear that Pottstown is in a downward spiral with ever increasing tax hikes, and that middle class home buyers will continue to look elsewhere to purchase a home. The annual tax increases by the school district, as well as the borough, are unsustainable.
VERONIKA WHITE
Pottstown

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