Maintaining Fiscal Discipline

To the Editor:

Fiscal discipline is hard medicine!

The need for a long term multi-year approach to budgeting has never been more clear.

After listening intently to last nights DVSD budget presentation of Plan A and Plan B, I make this simple statement: "Turn down the stimulus money."

As a way of background to my coming to this conclusion, let me say how impressed I was with the honest and open acknowledgment and clear presentation by School Supt. Dr. Candis Finan of the significant problems that our school district has with 5th grade. It matches the problem presented last fall with 11th grade and the inability to meet AYP. The need to spend significant sums of money on a new curriculum was shown to be evident. No objections were made by anyone in attendance that combating deficiencies in the educational continuum must be waged. I caution that If Dr. Finan were presenting these budgetary needs simply as a way to get more federal funding she would lose all integrity, perhaps her job. I know she values her integrity and good name so I do not fear this the case.

Hence , I applauded the Supt., the Board and Chair of Budget Finance and Audit Ed Silverstone on his work on the expenditure side of the $70M budget, a $3M increase from last year. He even restored a small portion of funds to the CAPEX Reserve as I had urged. That was a small but good step to make.

However, on the revenue side of the budget there remains great uncertainty as to the amount of federal stimulus money the DVSD will ultimately receive. Plan A calls for the revenue side of the to receive $3.3 million in federal stimulus funds. Plan B calls for the revenue side to receive $2 million less in federal stimulus funds. The PA State Senate has already voted overwhelmingly AGAINST DV getting the $3.3. The fight now goes to the PA House. Then on to Governor Rendell.

If you were preparing an honest budget would you use the $3.3M number to balance your budget.? I would not. Revenue must always be projected conservatively.

In the real business world such dramatic and traumatic uncertainty would never be relied upon to produce a balanced budget revenue projection. However, in the world of high stakes power politics being played from Washington to Harrisburg to Pike County, the DV School Board will vote next week to recommend Plan A. to the public and authorize the administration to begin the implementation of plans to address the problems in fifth and elenventh grade. Why? Simple. Plan A has been calculated to produce a local tax increase of 0%. Yes, another major increase in spending by a government entity without any taxpayer pain.

No pain at the federal level, no pain at the state level, no pain at the local level. All the pain is deferred to the future level. Our children and grandchildren will be forced to either pay for this new debt or be forced to pay, for all their lives, the interest on the debt this "painless stimulus" has produced. Money and power is an addictive narcotic. The Federal government, like a drug dealer on the streets, is saying "here just try it once. You will like it" or "here it’s free money, who does not like free money?".

I urge Mr. Silverstone to prepare a three to five year budget that details for the taxpayers what happens when the "stimulus money" under Plan A is gone. I urge him to do what he would do if he were the CFO of a real business enterprise faced with such uncertainty. Would he truly rely on such uncertain revenue streams to meet the demands of the expenditure stream increases that he will approve next week.?

Leaders make the hard calls. I say reject the injection of the federal stimulus. Mr. Silverstone, "Don’t get hooked." Then reexamine cold -turkey your revenues and expenditure projections over the next 36 to 48 months. Because you are an honest man, you’ll find the right answer.

Best regards,

Jack Fisher

Candidate for Delaware Valley School Board.