3:06 pm on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Dan, I agree with you. All of the facts/figures that are available to the public are fuzzy. You basically have to sit down with all the data, sift through it, and piece it together to get a comprehensive picture. I'll reiterate that is was a gross misrepresentation for the Board to say they would be facing at $900,000 in budget cuts if they agreed to the 1.5% levy. They claimed that with a 0% levy, they would be faced with $1.8M in budget cuts. I was at the meeting on 11/12/12, I heard it with my own ears. Those numbers are simply untrue as presented.
However, with regard to my comment about the money already being in place to fund salary increases, I was pointing out that I'm tired of hearing the same battle cry from the GEA/IEA/teachers that the only way they can get salary increases is through increased taxation. It's ridiculous that nobody on the board or the GEA seemed to grasp that concept/bargaining point during the negotiations. If the GEA could've come up with some creative ways to fund salary increases without extra taxation, I think it would've been supported all around (well, except by the administrators I suspect). And I'm not talking abount funding the pension spiking, I'm only talking about annual salary increases. Like someone said below, the transportation and O&M budgets are incredibly high compared to neighboring districts (look at the percentages on the state report cards, they're available here: https://www.geneva304.org/Report_cards/index.asp.
9:10 am on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Anthony, I agree with your comment about overspending giving the BOE a much bigger reserve pool for spenders to swim in. However, I don't buy the argument that $76/taxpayer will allow the BOE to give teachers consistent increases in income. THE MONEY IS ALREADY THERE TO BE GIVEN TO THE TEACHERS! The Board is getting more money this year than last! The Board/Administration simply needs to redistribute WHAT THEY ALREADY HAVE and give the teachers the raises and do away with frivolouse spending and waste.
If (and let me repeat the word IF) we're going to spend more money ANYWHERE within the system, it should be on teachers. Mr. Flaks and the rest of the GEA should take that gripe to the board! If they came forward with that position, I would have much more respect for them and their salary increase requests. However, as the whole scenario played out a month ago, I do believe the GEA's demands for the increases and retirement spiking were out of line given the current state of the economy.
9:09 am on Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Anthony, I agree with your comment about overspending giving the BOE a much bigger reserve pool for spenders to swim in. However, I don't buy the argument that $76/taxpayer will allow the BOE to give teachers consistent increases in income. THE MONEY IS ALREADY THERE TO BE GIVEN TO THE TEACHERS! The Board is getting more money this year than last! The Board/Administration simply needs to redistribute WHAT THEY ALREADY HAVE and give the teachers the raises and do away with frivolouse spending and waste.
If (and let me repeat the word IF) we're going to spend more money ANYWHERE within the system, it should be on teachers. Mr. Flaks and the rest of the GEA should take that gripe to the board! If they came forward with that position, I would have much more respect for them and their salary increase requests. However, as the whole scenario played out a month ago, I do believe the GEA's demands for the increases and retirement spiking were out of line given the current state of the economy.
11:54 pm on Monday, December 10, 2012
The levy process needs to be revamped at the state level. The levy shouldn't be filed before the assessor releases the actual EAV numbers in the spring. And to that end, the tax levy request shouldn't be made until after a budget has been developed. As it stands now, the budget isn't adoped until next August, yet the Board requested funds for this budget today. The sequence of events is tax levy filing by the last Tuesday of December, EAV numbers finalized by the assessor's office in the spring, budget prepared by end of summer. It's all so backwards it's ridiculous.
And yes Bob, I agree. Spend the money in reserves instead of increasing taxes. And then I have a novel idea....each year going forward, the board/district should make sure they don't spend more than is taken in. If we don't overspend, there's no need to worry about not having $53M in reserves!
10:50 pm on Monday, December 10, 2012
Cathy, I completely agree with you about things being very flawed at the state level. And I also agree that our Board has worked hard for us. I also agree that many, many people spent beyond their means and are now suffering the consequences with mortgage and property tax payments they can't manage. However, I disagree with your comment that "if Geneva hadn't taken what they could when they could we would be U-46 right now." Geneva took what they could when they could and the district is over 300M in debt. How did it do us any good to take "as much as possible" if we still overspent up the wazoo? If you send someone out to dinner and give them $100, chances are they'll likely spend that entire $100. If you send that same person out to dinner and only give them $50, they'll likely only spend $50. In either scenario, they leave the restaurant with a full belly. Though in the case of our goverment, give them $50 and they spend $100 anyway......the spending spree has to stop now, and cuts have to be made..
10:49 pm on Monday, December 10, 2012
Cathy, I completely agree with you about things being very flawed at the state level. And I also agree that our Board has worked hard for us. I also agree that many, many people spent beyond their means and are now suffering the consequences with mortgage and property tax payments they can't manage. However, I disagree with your comment that "if Geneva hadn't taken what they could when they could we would be U-46 right now." Geneva took what they could when they could and the district is over 300M in debt. How did it do us any good to take "as much as possible" if we still overspent up the wazoo? If you send someone out to dinner and give anyone $100, chances are they'll likely spend that entire $100. If you send that same person out to dinner and only give them $50, they'll likely only spend $50. In either scenario, they leave a restaurant with a full belly. In the case of our goverment, give them $50 and they spend $100 anyway......the spending spree has to stop now, and cuts have to be made..
10:25 pm on Monday, December 10, 2012
I'd love to have a discussion with Mr. Flaks about the budgeting issues. He should take a look at the raw numbers (https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicAgenda.aspx?ak=1000466&mk=50068869). With the 1.5% levy, the total funds available for 2012 will be $80.5M. In 2011, total funds available were $76.1M. How does an INCREASE in total funds of $4.3M from 2011 to 2012 equate to a "budget shortfall of $900,000"? If you look at the Operating Fund alone, 2011 was $61.2M, and with the 1.5% levy, 2012 will be $63.2M. I still don't see a budget shortfall here. I see an overall Operating Fund INCREASE of $2M for 2012! It is a gross misreprentation to claim there is a $900,000 budget shortfall with the 1.5% levy. What that number represents is the shortage of the 1.5% levy compared to the total allowable amout that CAN be levied based on CPI (3%). It DOES NOT reflect a shortage compared to the amounts collected last year.
As for Mr. Flaks seeing a 66% decrease in his budget over the past 5 years, he should have a discussion with the administration about that. In 2006, the Operating Fund was $51.6M. As stated earlier, In 2011, it was $61.2M. The taxpayers HAVE given the school disctrict more money, if Mr. Flaks has seen a decrease in HIS particular budget, that's due to a flaw in the appropriation of the funds, not the total amount of funds collected. I'm glad he teaches Music, not Math or Econ. I knew it would be pointless going to this meeting tonight, what a waste of time.
1:22 pm on Monday, December 10, 2012
This absurd legislation is right up there with the legislation that allows illegal workers in IL to receive work comp benefits (lost wages and medical) when hurt on the job. Um, what? You're working illegally, but we'll go ahead and pay you for lost time AND all of your medical treatment. And when you find that slimeball attorney and doctor who work hand in hand, you'll be guaranteed a six figure settlement. What a joke.
12:49 pm on Monday, December 10, 2012
It is very heart-warming that this man received this kidney transplant. No person should have to suffer, or face death, because they can't affort treatment. Unfortunately, our great country hasn't figured out a way to administer programs for those in need without corruption, waste, laziness, and mismanagement tarnishing the wonderful THEORETICAL foundation that these programs were developed upon. You can't squeeze water out of a rock. Most of these programs look, sound, and feel fantastic and "warm and fuzzy" on paper. However, in the harsh light of reality, the execution and results never live up to the vision. And millions upon billions upon trillions of dollars are down the drain. I wish all the voters who put Obama in office would start standing up and demanding that he put an end to the waste, corruption and greed that puts all of the "good" entitlement programs on the road to failure!!! This is the message we need to be sending all of our politicians!
LLKCV
5:07 pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013
Private User, you say "posting his personal information on here helps no one." Do you care to comment on the fact that he posted the complete school information (school name, city, county, address, phone numbers, principal's name, etc) on his personal Facebook page? He then asked EVERYONE to SHARE his post? How about that being productive (or not productive would probably be more appropriate). I'd say it's downright inflammatory. HIM putting the school information out there in the context that was erroneous (he himself later admitted that he MAY have misheard what the kids said, and it is evident that the kids have not been asked to "follow every command" their teachers give them) was irresponsible and he should be ashamed of himself for putting the kids at the school at risk. There are all kinds of people out there (which is what makes our country great), but it only takes one person to misconstrue/misinterpret and decide they're going to do something about it at the school.