December 22, 2008
EDITORIAL
$chool budget
continues to double every 10 years
At current pace, Goffstown
$chool budget
will exceed $1 Billion in 50 years
As
the nation’s recession deepens amidst increasing
unemployment, failing financial institutions and
unchecked inflation, the future remains uncertain for
most Americans. But here in Goffstown, we can all
depend on one thing: our $chool Board will again
increase our taxes.
The
board’s recently-proposed budget of over $34M is
another slap in the face to hardworking Goffstown
residents, as out-of-control spending by the Goffstown $chool
Board is further proof of their
apparent failure to consider taxpayers, and the board's
focus on nothing other than their own agenda.
And
keep in mind that enrollment has fallen over the
last few years.
While our $chool Board continues to increase its budget
and raise our taxes, other school districts understand
the hardships their residents are facing. This
year, the Hooksett school board is asking for $67K less
than last year, and the Raymond school board
actually returned $327K to its taxpayers.
The
Goffstown's $chool Board's continued predilection for stuffing the school
department’s pockets at our expense is nothing new.
In fact, it follows a trend that goes back over 50
years.
Local
resident Ivan Beliveau recently conducted a
study on our school budgets, going back to 1957.
Using Town Reports published each year since then, Mr. Beliveau’s research exposed an alarming (though not
surprising) trend: Goffstown’s school budgets
regularly double every 10 years.
The
chart below, in 5-year increments beginning in 1957, is
taken from Mr. Beliveau's research data:
|
YEAR |
#
Students |
Total
Budget (Actual) |
%
Increase over 10 yrs |
Cost
per Student |
| 1957 |
873 |
$290,778 |
N/A |
$333 |
| 1962 |
1,145 |
$458,440 |
N/A |
$400 |
| 1967 |
1,743 |
$1,004,242 |
345% |
$576 |
| 1972 |
2,369 |
$1,763,452 |
384% |
$746 |
| 1977 |
2,464 |
$2,894,706 |
288% |
$1,175 |
| 1982 |
2,278 |
$4,161,587 |
235% |
$1,827 |
| 1987 |
2,176 |
$7,669,773 |
264% |
$3,525 |
| 1992 |
2,445 |
$12,799.086 |
307% |
$5,235 |
| 1997 |
2,676 |
$16,572,996 |
216% |
$6,193 |
| 2002 |
2,998 |
$24,683,679 |
192% |
$8,233 |
| 2007 |
3,041 |
$34,822,651 |
210% |
$11,451 |
| Chart
shows how Goffstown $chool budget doubles every
10 years |
As
revealing as the figures in the above chart are, what is
truly alarming is extending this 50-year trend forward
another 50 years, to wit:
|
YEAR |
#
Students |
Total
Budget (Actual) |
%
Increase over 10 yrs |
Cost
per Student |
| 2017 |
3,000 |
$70,000,000 |
200% |
$23,333 |
| 2027 |
3,000 |
$140,000,000 |
200% |
$46,666 |
| 2037 |
3,000 |
$280,000,000 |
200% |
$93,333 |
| 2047 |
3,000 |
$560,000,000 |
200% |
$186,666 |
| 2057 |
3,000 |
$1,120,000,000 |
200% |
$373,333 |
| If
$chool spending continues at the present rate,
our budget will exceed $1.1 billion by 2057. |
At
a time when our selectmen worked overtime to
successfully reduce our tax burden on the town side and
maintain our tax rate unchanged, our school department
continues, year after year, to empty taxpayer wallets at
an alarming rate. It is interesting to note that
when our school budget does indeed reach over one
billion dollars 50 years or so from now, it is the very
children we are now educating that will be left to
handle this disaster.
And
they'll have our $chool Board - along with other
inflationists in Washington, D.C. - to thank for it.
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|
