The Case for Fiscal Discipline

To the Editor:

Fiscal discipline is hard medicine. Fiscal discipline is unpopular. Fiscal discipline has no short cuts.

However, once fiscal discipline is exercised over a period of time it leads to financial good health, stability and lean financial muscle.

Politicians seeking office and the power it brings to them have long loathed fiscal discipline. These power seekers have overspent( creating huge deficits), under invested ( leading to failing infrastructure and wiping out long-term reserves) and made promises of future monies without proper funding sources in place.( Unfunded liabilities left to our children and grandchildren.)

This lust for power is evidenced at the federal and state level. Massive new debt, trillions in new deficits. Lack of transparency and accountability.

Now the lust for power has come to the Delaware Valley School District.

DV School Board President Bob Goldsack has reduced reserve funding nearly 80% over his four year term. Reserves are the lean body mass needed for financial well being. Such unbalanced long term planning is seriously shortsighted. Bob Goldsack refuses to address the pension problem he helped cause when he voted to massively increase salaries. Ed Silverstone, Chairman of the Budget , finance and Audit committee, recently commented on the "over 41% starting salary increase" at the Matamoras Meet the Candidates night held by my fellow Republicans. Pensions are a mathematical function of salaries. They too are a reserve. Increasing salaries increases the need for pension reserve funding increases. The pension funding issue is awaiting the next school board due to the Goldsack miscalculations and lack of understanding of the role of reserves.

The good folks who support Mr. Goldsack need to ask themselves:. Why is spending overall increasing at the same time Mr. Goldsack is touting a single year level tax rate of 100.87 mils. How did the rate of the millage remain the same from the prior year, which by the way Goldsack voted against, when spending went up and student population went down.? The answer is that years of fiscal discipline went into setting the rate at 100.87 mils. It did not happen by luck. Why would Mr. Goldsack vote against it in year one and then vote for it in year two.?

Answer: He is an old school politician.

I ask the citizens of the DV School District to vote for "Directors" on May 19th. Directors are Leaders. We do not need more politicians.

Vote for Leaders.

Vote for FISHER, GREENLAW, LUTFY, PIKE and SCHOR.

Best regards,

JACK FISHER 

Candidate for Delaware Valley School Board.