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Cindy Kamm May 22, 2013 at 12:42 am
Tomorrow night May 22nd 6pm is the time for all taxpayers to come to the Budget Meeting. We as…Read More taxpayers cannot tolerate high amounts of spending for high school, while swallowing the corruption that has shown its ugly face. To put it nicely, you cannot spend money you do not have. It is time for the School Board to bite the bullet like the rest of us who are struggling to make ends meet.
Eric Stern May 22, 2013 at 01:10 pm
Cindy I totally agree with you. We need folks to come out to these meetings and ask hard questions…Read More of this board. How do we trust a board that wants to cut program, raise taxes and then spend $78 million plus to renovate the high while there is an ongoing investigation of criminal misconduct. Citizens living in Bensalem should be outraged that this is occurring.
Believe June 5, 2013 at 06:57 pm
Not against progress, but how can you ask tax payers to accept an increase in taxes for new…Read More construction when you failed miserably to maintain what you already had. Has anyone seen that High School? There has been the same trash, concrete curbing, etc. laying in that parking lot for years. No one paints, no fixing of the light fixtures, etc. and yet they had all those custodial staff on the payroll and no one asked any questions....
Carol Ann May 16, 2013 at 02:23 pm
Your school board tells you, "Its For The Children" every time they raise your property…Read More taxes even though such intolerably high taxes eventually bankrupt some parents into moving "The Children" out of the school, disrupting their once safe and security perception, separating them from their friends, and decimating the flow of positive and constructive education. ... Who do you think these former Bensalem SD students and parents are going to blame when they're forced out?
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Multiply all the foreclosures, "forced to sell out, and leave" home transfers by the millions across Pennsylvania since 2005 [when the banks started tightening up credit] and you've created the 76 taxpayer advocacy groups who today are one voice. The voice is the PTCC (Pennsylvania Taxpayer Cyber Coalition) . The PTCC has been working with state legislators to get HB/SB76 passed before another 30,000 Pa Homeowners go down the tubes [by the end of 2015 according to foreclosures.com ]. ... Your school board could lower the pain suffered by the students of the 6th grade gifted program and their parents by simply cutting the budgets of every department across the entire school district by a few percentage points, instead but, your school board and administration is so used to using the potential demise of a low cost program as extortion to bribe parents into paying higher taxes, they don't care who suffers, as long as they get to raise taxes!
P2YA May 16, 2013 at 02:23 pm
A crucial sentence here is he "worked with his teachers to compose a speech." So, what…Read More did we actually hear? Views of the vested interest--union protectionists that don't want any cuts and could care less about the impact on taxpayers. They return to their homes at the end of the day (many of them to Yardley, the Makefields and Newtown) while leaving Bensalem seniors to cover their lavish salaries and benefits as negotiated in secret by the current school board. All the while thieving by employees is rampant and under their very noses. Throw these bums out on Tuesday. They miss meetings, are ill-informed and do not take their jobs seriously. Taxpayers in Bensalem deserve better and should make sure to vote in the primary for the new candidates that appear on the ballot. All are cross-filed.
Carol Ann May 16, 2013 at 02:30 pm
P2YA, Regardless of your party affiliation, talk to your local T.E.A. [taxed enough already] group…Read More about holding a meeting to teach you and your fellow property owners, "How To Run In The Next School Board Election". These elections have a very low turnout so, it wouldn't take very much money to get in there.
In the meantime, if you haven't already done so, I urge you to not only join the PTCC via face book but, tell everyone you know to do the same. www.ptcc.us
Eileen T. Zolotorofe May 25, 2013 at 11:31 pm
I was honored to attend the BCCC Honors Convocation at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday to award the John E.…Read More Long, Jr. Memorial Scholarship to Michelle Johnston. John, a former Northampton Twp. Supervisor and my friend, was a beloved volunteer, member of the Foundation Board and several other committees at Bucks before his untimely death 4 years ago. I am certain that John would have approved of this year's recipient. Congratulations to the rest of the scholarship winners and to all of those graduates -- your experience at Bucks will travel with you for a lifetime.
Eileen "Z" Class of '98
Carol Ann May 16, 2013 at 02:20 pm
james b., That's exactly it. HB/SB76 is NOT rocket science so, why a shrinking number of state…Read More representatives and senators insist on opposing all their constituents on this matter, we, at the PTCC just can't answered by them. .... HB/SB76 releases $13,000,000,000./yr into Pennsylvania's economy which is then spent as disposable income by most property owners. 13B is stimulus that generates millions of jobs and helps keep millions of homeowners in their homes!
Carol Ann May 16, 2013 at 02:21 pm
Your school board tells you, "Its For The Children" every time they raise your property…Read More taxes even though such intolerably high taxes eventually bankrupt some parents into moving "The Children" out of the school, disrupting their once safe and security perception, separating them from their friends, and decimating the flow of positive and constructive education. ... Who do you think these former Bensalem SD students and parents are going to blame when they're forced out?
..........................
Multiply all the foreclosures, "forced to sell out, and leave" home transfers by the millions across Pennsylvania since 2005 [when the banks started tightening up credit] and you've created the 76 taxpayer advocacy groups who today are one voice. The voice is the PTCC (Pennsylvania Taxpayer Cyber Coalition) . The PTCC has been working with state legislators to get HB/SB76 passed before another 30,000 Pa Homeowners go down the tubes [by the end of 2015 according to foreclosures.com ]. ... Your school board could lower the pain suffered by the students of the 6th grade gifted program and their parents by simply cutting the budgets of every department across the entire school district by a few percentage points, instead but, your school board and administration is so used to using the potential demise of a low cost program as extortion to bribe parents into paying higher taxes, they don't care who suffers, as long as they get to raise taxes!
Lisa Liney Barger May 17, 2013 at 01:17 am
Bensalem schools need to take a closer look at PSSA ranking within the state according to the PSSA…Read More scores. Overall the scores are a disgrace. Please do not hang your hat on AYP. AYP is just a way to make failing school systems look better. Teacher salaries increase. Student success does not improve. I tried the public schools in Bensalem. Belmont Hills first grade delivered a sub par program. I was told they had to teach to the level of the majority of the students. Didn't they ever hear of differentiating instruction to meet individual needs. Use assessments to create appropriate guided groups for reading. A real joke in my opinion! School system needs a true overhaul. Also school board members with minimal educational backgrounds and college degrees. Many have written attended such and such school. This means never finished never graduated. The board needs a true educator that knows what they are doing.
Connie Youmans May 5, 2013 at 02:21 pm
I'm confused, doesn't the school board and their departments get audited every year?
If they don't…Read More they should be, the thefts would have shown up must faster if those audits were taking place as they should be.
P2YA May 7, 2013 at 05:47 pm
Something nobody has mentioned, and this is a more wide-ranging issue, the ineffectiveness of…Read More financing today's education costs using a property tax as the primary source of funds. Renters pay something as part of their rents, but people (and many seniors) that own homes are paying a disproportionate share. Here's an actual example. I know a person in Bensalem with three children that lives in 2-bedroom apartment. As stated, some portion of her rent does go toward paying property tax on the apartment complex, but on a tuition basis she is paying a very small portion of the cost to educate her three children--all of which are involved in sports and music. Conversely, a senior with no kids in school for 30+ years is paying an ever increasing amount to finance education. (Bensalem has not had a year over the past decade without a tax increase.) This year will be no exception. There is a cliche, "if it ain't broke don't fix it." In the case of the Pennsylvania legislature their axiom is, "even though it's broke we won't fix it." Those we send to Harrisburg are so beholden to teacher's unions and special interests that they refuse to address tax reform, the pension bomb or do anything but embrace the status quo. It's time to look at income taxes (ability to pay) or a sales tax to finance education as opposed to taxing seniors out of their homes. Also...a county wide reassessment is long overdue. Way too many undervalued homes are on the tax roles.
Ace Jackson May 7, 2013 at 08:24 pm
as long as we have people in the positions to make the decisions we hope are based on whats best for…Read More OUR township and the ones who pay their salaries, instead of whats best for every other thing/person besides the residents, there will never be real change. Many of you have mentioned about the audits done, and why none of this was figured out before or why there weren't any red flags, and I would first start with the fact that the person incharge for the townships finances, was the biggest crook of them all from what it looks like, based upon the information that was release regarding that whole incident. The thought that NO ONE had any idea of what was going on until it all came out, is absolutely ridiculous.
Back to what other options the towship has in addition to raising taxes, because lets be real, you are completely naive if you think that taxes wont be raised, there is no way to avoid that, but there are things that can be done to try and make it not as painful......
Toni Allen Yost March 15, 2013 at 12:20 pm
So proud of all of the students and the teachers that have worked so hard to put this show on. I…Read More can not wait to see opening night tonight!!! Break a leg Amanda Yost!!!
Bensalem ROTC Cadet Receives Honor
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