It's That Time of Year Again!

If the Fiscal Calendar for MSD lined up like the regular calendar, this time would be around the Thanksgiving/Black Friday holiday that we as Americans love so much. The budget for Methacton School District, and all districts around the area, are due by June 30th (I guess that would be the New Year's Eve of this calendar...), so the months leading up to the deadline are crucial to communicate to the taxpayers external stakeholders what the district's plans are for the coming year.

Unless, of course, you're Methacton, and you wait until May to do that. And of course you blame it on the whole Quinn fiasco, and the Director of Business Services retiring, but hey, better late than never. I would hate to see what would happen if a governmental body never passed a budget for a fiscal year.

But I digress.

After questioning the board at the April work session about why the preliminary budget wasn't online, MSD has posted the budget presentation that we saw at the work session two days ago, and unlike years past, we see a line-by-line description of every item--and Mr. Whiteleather was involved, instead of just a Superintendant show.

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of the budget, it'll help if you download the budget presentation so you can put numbers to a name, per se, in what I'm talking about. If you also want to view the so-called "extras", click here.

The general theme of the whole presentation was a sort of muttered "we're in trouble here". It wasn't ever said out loud, but the numbers and the tone of Dr. Miller's/Mr. Whiteleather's voices rang that theme out. The first thing that was mentioned was Methacton's contribution on PSERS. Because of the economic troubles our nation has had over the last five or so years--you may have heard about it--the contribution that school districts across Pennsylvania have to add in is going up. On the third slide, the historical date for PSERS and the tax rate are shown. From last school year to this school year (remember, the budget follows the same framework as the school year, it makes it easier to remember), the PSERS rate jumped by 4%, going up by about $1.7 Million. From this school year to next year is another 4% jump costing MSD over $2 Million. It's like the teachers contracts all over again.

Another piece of good news (read: sarcasm); the medical insurance rate from 2008-09 to this fiscal year, about five years, jumped 17.07%. Which is why the school district is adding itself to a health insurance consortium (more on that when MSD decides to join...they are joining a lot of "consortiums").

The average tax increase has been 3.4% since 2008-09.
(Click picture to enlarge)

Of course, as the school districts grumble over having to contribute more money than they have to teacher's retirement, a fun nugget of information was the Property Tax rates. The millages for this current fiscal year as 26.83, and the budget that has been worked on is under the premise that the school district will raise taxes by 2.95%. If you're thinking to yourself "I thought the Property Tax index was 1.7%", I have to say wow, you are well informed. Well, it is, but there is another PSERS exception for 1.25%, which totals to 2.95%.

(NOTE: The Times Herald got it dead wrong. It's 1.7%, not 1.6%)

Of course, if you've been noticing that Montgomery County's taxes haven't gone up in years (even with a threadbare budget), and that's the same for Lower Providence/Worcester. I know for a fact that LP hasn't raised taxes in nine years, while MSD raised taxes by 14.2% in five years. Whatever relief we got from the county/township level has been felt, hard, at the property tax level.

However, the budget is set at 2.95% tax increase, Dr. Miller did go over the specifics on what may happen if MSD doesn't go for the max index of increases: teacher's being laid off, textbooks not being ordered for one year, the usual doom and gloom an administrator gives with pay cuts. That would cause class sizes to go up by one to two kids on average. Now, average and what will actually happen are two different things, since you have teachers and students spread out across five elementary schools, one "upper elementary" school, one middle school, and a high school. Cutting teachers may mean a reshuffling of students, or maybe even (gasp!) re-districting, but at this point, that option needs to be considered.

(ANOTHER NOTE: The Times Herald got it wrong again! At no point did Dr. Miller even mention a class size that would average 30 kids. Never.)

MSD is losing revenue, which means expenses have to be cut.

From what I could tell from the boards reaction to the budget--and I know I made a crack about maybe the board will get their heads on straight about a tax increase--the 1.7% tax increase seems like the reality. From what I could tell, the board finally realized that the taxpayers can only handle so much. MSD is going to lose money on both Shannondell and the In Lieu on Evansburg State Park, and with parents choosing for greener pastures in terms of employment, education, and tax rates, Methacton has to seriously look at the future and adjust course on the direction of this ship.

Well, it's about freakin' time!

Let me get this off of my chest: I want the zero percent increase. I think the taxpayers deserve a zero percent increase. But I acknowledge that cuts take time. Changing the tax-and-spend habits of The Mighty Quinn's regime don't happen overnight, and if the board is willing to blister their fingers to balance the budget, and this is the first step in the right direction, then hell yeah!

Considering one BIG THING wasn't talked about at that meeting. The big ol' white elephant in the room: the next teachers contract.

It's no secret that the current contract, at about 4% pay increase per year over four years, strained the board. Well, that, and the administrators pay increase. With PSERS going up, revenue going down, and MHS failing AYP for the sixth year in a row, it's time to analyze the teachers pay. If it needs to be frozen, or cut, let it be. You can't cut the budget and then give a pay increase out. It's not possible.

I don't like advocating that the teachers take a pay cut. I don't like saying that someone needs to make less money. Trust me, there are still teachers in MHS that I have nothing but respect for, and I would want them to be well off, but times are tough. Times have been tough since 2008. Simply put: Methacton cannot afford anything other than freezing and cutting the teachers pay. PSERS is going up, income is going down. Everyone needs to take one for the team. Not just the teachers, but all employees of Methacton. It's only fair.

But this budget has a little bit to go before it's approved. Next Tuesday, May 21st at 7:00 PM at Methacton High Schools' LGI room will be the next school board meeting. If you want to voice your opinion on the budget, taxes, teachers contracts, whatever, go then. On June 18th is the next work session, and June 25th will be the last chance motel for passing the budget. That will be your last chance to voice your opinion on the budget, or on the tax rate, before it's set into stone for one year.

Whether you call yourself a parent, taxpayer, "external stakeholder", or resident, you need to let your voice be heard. Speak up! It's that time of year.

EDIT: The other BIG THING you think would be factored into the budget would have been enrollment projections. But then again, under Quinn, we always had fluffed enrollment projections, justifying Skyview. If student enrollment keeps dropping, well, that's less money Methacton can afford to spend, because if a student or two leave, usually it's with a family. Thank you Anonymous for bringing that to my attention.