The School Budget vote and election will be held on Tuesday, May 19th between 12:00 noon and 9:00 p.m. in the large group instruction room in the high-school on Buckley Road.
One of the things to be considered is Proposition # 2. What is this?
Here is the wording of the legal notice which the district ran in the paper.
Proposition # 2
“Resolved that the Board of Education of the Whitehall Central School District is authorized and directed to increase the ultimate amount of the capital reserve fund known as the “Future Renovations to the Elementary and Jr./Sr. High School Buildings Capital Reserve Fund”, which Capital Reserve Fund was approved by the voters on May 20, 2003, from the original sum of $1,500,000 to be increased (to the) sum of $3,500,000. A sum not to exceed $500,000 shall be transferred from the current general fund into this Capital Reserve Fund as part of the increased ultimate amount authorized by the proposition. The original term of such Fund shall remain at ten (10) years from May 20, 2003.”
What is this really all about? It’s about our tax dollars being frivolously wasted.
In 2005, the school spent over $ 2 million dollars from a reserve account to build an addition on the school and tennis courts. Now the district is building up the account again by overcharging the taxpayers on the yearly budget, putting the excess into reserve accounts and planning future construction projects. All the while, enrollment is dropping!
This year $500,000 is proposed to be put away and the reserve account is proposed to grow to $3.5 million. This would seem to indicate that the district is planning on putting $500,000 away for 4 years before they spend it.
When they go to spend it, they will claim it will have no effect on taxes. When in fact, the district has already taken it out of our pockets.
The problem Whitehall is having is that the town is dying because of the school district’s taxing policy. Dresden has actually cut taxes two years in a row, and increased spending at the same time because Dresden has grown its tax base. The school district could do the same; put money in reserve, cut taxes and improve the tax base of the town.
Whitehall is doing exactly the opposite. I keep a list of businesses that have left Whitehall over the last 10 years and every year it continues to grow. Dunkin Donuts left last year.
Sadly the good news is, you can’t miss the problem any more. Recent local headlines about Whitehall all show a town in significant decline; water problems unresolved, a former police chief who couldn’t pass the civil service exam, a low-income subsidized housing center which can’t attract enough residents, the municipal offices being located in a state facility which doesn’t want them there. Do I have to list more?
Dresden on the other hand, and especially Huletts, is growing and thriving because of low spending and wise stewardship. Every year positive change is happening in Huletts.
While the Huletts Current recommends a “NO” vote on Proposition 2 this Tuesday, Whitehall will most likely continue to go down the declining path it has chosen. The real news is that enrollment will plummet in the years ahead and the district will have put itself and the town of Whitehall out of business. They might build a fancy new school with our tax dollars, but at this pace it will be empty because there won’t be any children or businesses left in Whitehall.