Letter To The Editor – Become Informed Before You Vote

To the editor:
On December 13th the Berlin Central School District is asking residents to vote on a $6.8 million dollar referendum. I am asking for the taxpayers to inform themselves before they vote.
On the surface it looks like a reasonable plan. However, if you dig deeper you will find there are many unanswered questions.
First, why did this plan have to be developed by two Board members behind closed doors? All meetings, especially one of this magnitude, should be done in public so anyone interested can attend. This meeting not only deprived the public of specific information but has left most of the Board in the dark surrounding the details of this project.
Why did the Board have to be forced to hold a hearing specifically for the referendum? Even after being forced to hold this informational meeting, it was decided that it wasn’t necessary to post announcements in all the towns as we do with all other meetings. We should always inform the taxpayers rather than take the approach of sneaking something through.
I also believe that anyone involved in putting together a 6.8 million dollar project should have completed their fiscal training beforehand so that they understand the financial impact that they are proposing. In addition, if you have the ability to prosper financially from this referendum, perhaps you should not be the driving force behind the proposal.
As it has been mentioned many times before, the District does have other options. The Board was finally at the point where we were going to put the financial and academic impact to each option and present it to the taxpayers for input. This was thrown away and a multi-year spending plan with no long term forecast is now on the table. I still can’t comprehend why the Board would not make the sound financial and academic choice by reviewing these options and then sharing it with the public.
The current plan involves many assumptions that may not be true. It is assumed that we will have a 3% bond interest rate, that the state will give us over $5 million dollars, that construction costs have decreased significantly in the past 3 years, that we will receive a high state aid ratio of 75% and that we don’t need to calculate in DASNY fees as we have always done before.
The state just announced that they have a $250 million dollar deficit and next year that deficit will grow into the billions. There has been talk of mid-year state aid cuts as we enter into a position the state has never faced before. It doesn’t seem like the state is in a secure financial position to hand over such a significant amount money. It is important to understand that any costs not covered by the state will need to be covered by the local tax levy.
The District has also failed to tell you the long term plan. This is most likely because it has not been developed which would give you a view of what to expect in upcoming years. The only information provided is that this is the first referendum of many and the total dollar amount is unknown at this time.
It should also be pointed out that this referendum does not even come close to resolving the maintenance issues in this District. There are no immediate plans to correct any issues at the bus garage, Berlin Elementary will still be literally falling apart and most of the referendum is simply patch work.
For example, 3 years ago we were told that the roof at Berlin Elementary needed to be replaced and the current plan is to patch it in two years. We will then put millions into the interior of the school and hope that the roof holds up until the next project which is about 5 years down the line. Do you want to spend almost $600,000 on an elevator and hope that it doesn’t get rained on? This is a very risky move especially when it comes to investing taxpayers’ money.
I am also concerned about our ability to manage a $6.8 million dollar referendum. We had difficulty managing two $100,000 projects and now we intend to spend millions with very little planning surrounding it. I would like more clarity, and I would hope that you would, too.
I do believe that the District needs to address the facility issues, but we must know which plan is best and provide taxpayers with the full picture. If you were told that Berlin Elementary will still need another $10 million dollars would you still want to proceed? If we told you that our enrollment has declined by 1/3 over the past 5 years and the trend is continuing, would you want more information on a less expensive 1 campus solution? In the end, will we be pouring endless amounts of money into the Berlin Elementary school when we could have had a brand new building for less?
I send my own children to Berlin Elementary, and I fully understand the issues we are faced with. However, I am not willing to allow the District to begin a project they don’t have the funds to complete. The end result will be exposing the children and staff members to serious hazards (lead, asbestos, radon & mold) and quickly finding out that we are in way over our head.
I don’t have the answers but neither do the other Board members or the taxpayers because 4 of the Board members refuse to show you the alternative options and ask for your input. It took us 5 years to save up the money in the capital reserve fund, and we have one shot at putting this District onto a stable financial and academic path.
The current plan will certainly get us one step closer to bankruptcy, but it will also dramatically impact the academic programming. When more money is needed to cover costs at any of our buildings, we will either ask the taxpayers to cover the bill and/or it will be taken from funds that are dedicated to the educational programs.
We have many tough years ahead of us and this plan will put us so far off course that we will never recover. Taxpayers should demand to see all the options and the financial and academic impacts and then make their decision based on the facts.
The District can easily provide this information, and, if the taxpayers desire, a new project can go up to vote before spring. I do believe that there are options available that will stabilize the finances and allow us to concentrate on education.
In the end, as long as the public is fully informed I will support whatever decision is made.
This letter is my individual statement and not meant to represent the Board as a whole.
Yours Truly,
Bev Stewart