Letter: School Budget is 'Outrageous'

The Lacey School District has released their preliminary budget for 2012-13. Now the school district wants over $70 million to educate our kids. It’s just outrageous! When will the School Board ever hold the line with their budget? The $19.8 million dollar solar project was supposed to generate enough income to stabilize taxes (and therefore the budget) and it hasn't.

The SREC’s are not generating enough income as anticipated. Again the taxpayers have been lied to by our out of touch elected officials many whom have family members and friends that are profiting from this madness.

Not only did the school district move their election to November, but they are taking advantage of raising the taxes without a budget vote by staying under the state mandated 2 percent cap. That’s a lot of leeway from a $68.8 million dollar budget.

To top it off, Gov. Chris Christie is no friend of the taxpayer. He has allowed school districts such as ours to opt out of a budget referendum in lieu of them having elections instead in November. Now they can raise our taxes year after year by 2 percent and the taxpayers have no recourse and are screwed again. It’s just unbelievable.

Are all of our elected officials going deaf? Do they not hear the cry of the suffering taxpayers? Times are tough. Many are surviving on one income where there used to be two or even worse on practically no income or are unemployed.

Go to the Lacey School District’s Public Budget hearing on Monday, March 26 and tell them you are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore.

Please check you tax assessment right now! If your assessment is even $10,000 higher than you can sell your house in this current market, then you are paying too much property tax. File your tax appeal by Sunday, April 1.

Since the elected officials aren't hearing the taxpayers, maybe they'll listen a little more closely in tax court. If many of us file tax appeals, the school board and municipal government will start feeling the pain that they have continually inflicted on us.

Respectfully submitted,

Regina Discenza