We knocked on the door of House 222 here in the patch, and asked 99-year-old Stutta Bubba if we could again borrow her crystal ball to make a quick prediction.
"Vat for?" she wanted to know. "And make it quick. I am in middle of making halushki."
When we told her that we wanted to predict whether the Laurel Highlands School Board would be raising property taxes, Stutta Bubba slammed the door in our face. "You don't need crystal ball to make dat prediction. It is done deal."
Based upon what board members and administrators are saying, and more importantly are not saying, we would have to agree with the patch matriarch.
All school districts in Pennsylvania are struggling, because the increased state operating subsidy they count on like clockwork isn't going to automatically roll in this year. That means some tough choices have to be made.
Gov. Tom Corbett has asked all school district employees, including administrators and teachers, to accept a one-year pay freeze in order to help out. Your chance of winning the Powerball drawing is greater than seeing even two Fayette County school districts agree to that.
Another option is to cut staff. That's going to be tough in a county where one of the unspoken duties of a school board member is, in many cases, to be a job creator for family members. It would be easier to find a coal baron still living in Brownsville than to find a board member willing to sacrifice the gainful employment of his or her relative(s).
Which brings us to option number three, raising taxes. And that's what leads us to boldly predict that Laurel Highlands property owners are about to get soaked.
In the story "LH board struggling with budget," published in the Herald-Standard on June 2, the public relations groundwork for this tax hike was plainly laid down.
The first clue comes in the lead paragraph: Even if the Laurel Highlands School District puts every penny of its estimated $2.9 million fund balance into the 2011-12 budget, it will still have a $900,000 shortfall.
This gives the subliminal impression that the school board is in such dire straits, it may have no choice but to raise taxes.
The next clue is this quote from board member Jim Tobal: “It seems like we can get through this year, but if we spend all of our fund balance, where will we be next year?” Tobal is softening up the tax hike beach, even though he has no real clue what the state subsidy will be two years from now. He should solve this year's budget crisis and cross next year's budget bridge when he comes to it. Also, as a retired LH schoolteacher and thus a recipient of the district's generous retirement policies, Tobal is used to seeing the money roll in from one source or another year after year.
The third clue comes from LH curriculum director Randy Miller, who said, “We’re not just looking at the cuts, we’re also looking at how we can bring in additional income.” You can bet your sweet bippy that the "additional income" Miller speaks of isn't going to be generated by a hoagie sale, hosting bingo in the auditorium or passing the hat at the next football game.
While Miller did say the school district is looking into the possibility of layoffs, we doubt that those will amount to much if they even occur. If anyone gets the ax, look for it to be support staff like janitors and cafeteria workers, not administrators. And we have a sneaky suspicion that anyone who has a strong board connection will still be collecting a paycheck when the dust clears.
Part of the problem with Laurel Highlands is in its generous policies, like the one that provides retirees with $100 for each unused sick day. What private employer in Fayette County provides a benefit like that?
Another part of the problem, for Fayette County school districts in general, is that they give out multi-year contracts to employees that are predicated on steady increases in state subsidy. When that fails to happen, as appears to be the case this year, they inevitably turn to the taxpayers with the explanation that, "We have all these fixed costs, so we have no choice but to raise taxes."
That is a lie. They have other options, which include, in order: laying off employees, reopening contracts to reduce wages and benefits, and negotiating new contracts predicated on current economic realities.
We wish the Herald-Standard would have the courage to do some simple math and inform the public just how much of a millage rate increase would be required to close an existing $900,000 deficit. That would give people at least a rough idea of what is lurking around the corner.
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