The Dallas Post Dallas school budget unnecessarily raises taxes It's not exactly a confidence game, but the budgeting scheme used by the Dallas School District appears to be less straightforward than some taxpayers might like it to be. As it has in other years, the budget for the year that began July 1 projects the district's fund balance — essentially its savings account — to end the year nearly $1 million smaller than it began. But recent experience suggests that won't be the case. In the past three budget years, the actual fund balance at the end of the year has averaged $928,000 more than was projected. The biggest miss was in the 1999-2000 budget, which projected $3.8 million left at the end, but actually fin- ished with nearly $5.2 million. If this was just an isolated case of extremely good fortune, there would be no reason to question the process or the fig- ures. But in the same period of time, taxes have increased by 28 mills, more than 16 percent, while the fund balance has grown by $1.4 million. This is known as conservative ac- counting, usually the best kind, but in this case it seems to be taken to an extreme. For example, the budget contains $500,000 in “budgetary reserve,” which the business manag- er says is unlikely to be needed. A similar account has been in place each budget for several years, and given the healthy balance, has yet to be tapped. Granted, the district has taken on massive construction and renovation projects that have touched or will involve every building in its portfolio, but there has been no obvious negative effect on the budgets. That would lead to the con- clusion that some of the district's money would be better left ‘in the pockets of taxpayers than in savings accounts that yield — well, you know what the interest rate is like these days. The most recent 8-mill hike in the property tax rate will Dallas, PA Thursday,July 11, 2002 Step i into my doe, Photo by Ron Barrick 5 LETTERS ig | - generate pretty much all the unneeded half-million-dollar re- serve, and it could easily have been foregone, given the con- sistent pattern of more than adequate revenues in recent years. Ron Bartizek Publisher’s Notebook It may be the best of times that can only mean other players are getting catty. “I think people are going to get bored for U.S. women’s tennis, and by it,” said Amelie Mauresmo after being overwhelmed by Serena Williams. She was refer- ring, of course, to the prospect of another all-Williams final, this time at Wimbledon. “You know, I can’t count how many people since yesterday told me, ‘We don’t want a Williams fi- nal,” or whatever. Obviously, Mauresmo had been looking into a mirror as she conducted her poll, or else sharing a lat- te and crying towel with Justin Henin, who fell just as hard to Venus Williams." Just a suggestion: ms in the fina Speaking of contrasts between Americans and others, what do you make of our expanding waistlines, even as commer- cials for diet plans and exercise equipment have become as ubiquitous as fast food joints? Meanwhile, we hear the French and Italians maintain their youthful figures while munching on goose liver and guzzling wine. Our dilemma has become so great that nutrition experts are now seriously reconsidering the Atkins diet, which experts have disparaged as if it was concocted by a voodoo doctor, not an M.D. | Dr. Atkins’ high-protein regimen appeals to the carnivore in each of us, since red meat is at the top of his food pyra- mid, even if it's bathed in butter. If breakfast is the highlight of the day, the good doctor says it's okay to treat yourself to Eggs Benedict, as long as you leave out the muffin. That's because he believes the weight-gain culprit was carbohy- drates in any form, including bread and sugar. And it turns out he may be right, or at least not entirely wrong. I'll make a wild prediction here - a chart of the growth in Americans’ average girth tracks the size of the largest french fries container at a fast food j have in abundance; carbs! joint. And guess what potatoes Letters, columns and editorials The Dallas Post attempts to publish opinions on a variety of topics in many forms. Editorials, which are the opinion of the managment of The post. appear on the editorial page and are written by the general manager unless otherwise indicated. Any artwork represents the opinion of the cartoonist, and columns are the opinion of the author. Letters to the editor are welcome and will be published, subject to the following guidelines: » Letters should not exceed 500 words. * No writer may have more than one letter published during a 30- day period, except as a reply to another letter. * Letters must be signed and include the writer's home town and a telephone number for verification. ~* Names will be withheld only if there exists a clear threat to the writer. * The Post retains the right to accept or reject any letter, and to edit letters for grammar and spelling, as well as to eliminate any li- bel, slander or objectionable wording. Letters may be mailed to the office, or sent by e-mail to: dallaspost@leader.net TIMESeLEADER P.O. BOX 366, DALL Ronald Bartizek GENERAL MANAGER William J. Dunn Jr. ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC. Darlene Sorber OFFICE MANAGER The Dallas Post unity Newspaper Group A 18612 * 570-675-5211 Timothy J. Raub REPORTER Ruth Proietto AD PRODUCTION MANAGER Terry Quinn PAGE DESIGN Peacemaking begins on the highway, too PY Editor, Peace begins at home and on the highway. Well, that is not exactly what my friend, Rev- erend Dr. Herb Frey, said to me many years ago. He simply said, “Peace begins at home.” Dr. Frey was referring to the need for peacemaking to begin within each family unit among spous- es, parents, siblings, and care- givers in general as we pursue our daily routines. The advice is socially fundamental in building peaceful, sustainable communi- ties. Indeed, we cannot effective- ly build national and interna- tional peace initiatives unless we establish working patterns of peacemaking in our own fami- lies and communities based on . rules that everyone is willing to play by. Dr. Frey's advice barged back into my life recently as I was try- ing to negotiate the complexities of traffic on Back Mountain highways and byways. I was flabbergasted by how many peo- ple were driving recklessly in the brief hour I was out and about. Blatant crashing of stop lights at just about every intersection, speeding, rude and reckless ma- neuvering, startlingly loud jake- braking by trucks — these are increasingly common and dan- gerous behaviors by what seems to be a significant proportion of the auto and truck drivers. It suddenly occurred to me that these people are all committing violent acts against the general community. Now, one response might be to blame Kingston Township police authorities for lack: of effective enforcement. While I do not doubt that they could perform their job enforcing traffic codes in a more thorough and consis- tent fashion, in their defense they must have the cooperation of the drivers who must obey the rules. If the majority of drivers are purposefully disobeying the traffic rules, we could never have enough police officers for enforcement. Communities need rules—and people need to obey the rules. Otherwise, chaos and pain are the result. At the core: of American democracy that we recently cele- brated is a nation of morally de- fensible law and ethics. As citi- zens, we are individually and collectively obligated to obey these laws or change them through due process. This in- cludes the traffic rules-of-the-: Thanks for support that will save lives Editor, I want to thank everyone that played a role in the success: of the Lehman Ambulance AED Golf Tournament held at Four Seasons Golf Club, June 15, 2002, for my senior project, from the Golfers who stayed through the rain, to all the hole sponsors ONLY x YESTERDAY 70 Years Ago - July 8, 1932 JOSEPH SCHOOLEY HEADS KINGSTON TOWNSHIP BOARD Joseph B. Schooley was elect- ed president of Kingston town- ~ ship school board at a four hour meeting at the Trucksville school house. The motion to elect Mr. Schooley was made by Mr. Nichols and seconded by Mr. Hill. New Laurel Country Club which has been opened near Loyalviole in Lake township is epected to become one of the outstanding recreation and club centers of this vicinity. The pro- ject is sponrored by a group in- cluding Virginia D. Harding and Harry C. Harding. Showers did not prevent crowds from attending the Fourth of July celebration at Noxen. The festivities included a float parade, two ball games and athletic events. 60 Years Ago - July 10, 1942 SCORES OF LOCAL MEN ARE DRAWN FOR INDUCTION With increased calls from the Selective Service System for re- placements, the two local draft boards drawing selectees from this area are hard pressed to fill and local businesses that gave support, to all the friends, rela- tives, and the public who found my story touching and were will- ing to donate to see Lehman township get a heart defibrilla- tor. The incredible response by the community totaled over $7,000, a sum which will likely purchase three heart defibrilla- their quotas. A total of 205 men from Draft boards in Shickshin- ny and Wyoming have been called for physical examination. Installation of a new fire hy- drant on Davenport street had been authorized by Dallas Bor- ough Council. This brings the number of hydrants installed during the year to five and will afford protection for property valued at more than $53,000 in the vicinity of Jackson, Parrish, Davenport, Water, Pinecrest and Huntsville Streets. William Cairl, former wire chief of the Commonwealth Tele- phone Copany, has been pro- moted to first lieutenant in the Signal Corps. Years Ago - July 18, 1952 SIXTH ANNUAL LIBRARY AUCTION TOPS ALL OTHERS Off to a slow start because of the threat of bad weather and in competition with the Republican National Convention, the Sixth Annual Library Auction crashed through to a spectacular ending establishing a record gross in- come of more than $10,300. Four YMCA playgrounds re- ceived proper initiation, in spite of the rain and wet grounds. The newly organized playgrounds are at Lehman, Dallas, Shavertown and Orange. Mills Brothers Three Ring Cir- cus will arrive at the show rounds on Route 415 northwest of Dallas to present two shows. Among the feature acts are the Wang Hong Schu troupe, clowns from England, Australia, Italy, Chili and the United States and aerial artists. tors, exceeding my original goal of one. A special thanks goes out to Mr. Ron Wenrich and Mrs. Al- lie Heffferan (Lehman Ambu- lance); Mrs. Diane Kane, Presi- dent of the American Heart As- sociation; The Times Leader, The Citizen's Voice, The Dallas Post, Ron Giordana and Elliot Wyler at WBRE/Operation Heartbeat 40 Years Ago - July 12, 1962 SUTTON MADE PRESIDENT; HOGOBOOM APPOINTED TO LAKE-LEHMAN BOARD Williard Sutton, vice president of Lake-Lehman School Board was elected president at a meet- ing of the Directors following the resignation of Edgar Lashford who is leaving this area. Pvt. Leslie Dickson, USMC, son of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Dickson Dallas, completed four weeks of advanced combat train- ing with the First Infantry Train- ing Regiment at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Two thousand horse lovers crowded the new showgrounds on Route 118 to see the eigh- teenth annual lehman Horse Show. Site of the whos was do- nated by James, Joseph and Thomas Park. 30 Years Ago - July 6, 1972 THE FLOOD OF ‘72, AFTER- WORD: LITTLE HELP FOR NEEDY FLOOD VICTIMS According to a write up and pictorial done by the staff of Greenstreet News Intermediate, there seemed to be little help done for the victims of the ‘72 Flood. Some of the articles writ- ten are as follows: Red Tape Holdup: President Nixon sent Vice President Sprio Agnew, to view the aftermath of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. But the Vice President later told newsmen that he thought the damage estimates of Gov. Shapp and his administration were ex- aggerated out of all proportions. road. When you get behind the 01 wheel of your vehicle and be- have recklessly, you have forfeit- ;j ed the intrinsic right to claim that you are either a citizen or 3) an American. You are just an- ,g other rude human who is terror- izing innocent people. I daresay .that any driver you would ask on the road would have nothing ! good to say about the terrorists’ actions of 9/11. Yet, many such people think nothing of terroriz- ing their community when they = drive. L Peacemaking begins not only at home but on the highway. I The Kingston Township police ’ cannot do this for you. You are! the only one that can make a difference. “James M. Case; Trucksville : for giving television coverage, pursuing my story, and encour- 1 aging me to reach my goal. sl Thanks once again and. remem- ber that AEDs Do Save Lives. Angelo Georgetti iv Lehman sd The Red Cross was all but non-existent, even a week after a the flood. There were no Red Cross workers to be seen any- where except in a few remote spots. As late as a week after the flood waters spiled out of their banks, most government offi- cials still didn’t have the needed answers for flood victims. Eliott. Knauer, the Dade, who, before a group of. farmers provide needed answers. 20 Years Ago - July 7, 1982 LAKE-LEHMAN TAXPAYERS SUBJECT OF DEBATE AT BOARD MEETING Taxpayess of the Lake-Lehman School District were the subject of debate at a special meeting | OF the Board of Directors. It ap- | pears the board is unable to de- termine when it is sae and expe- | dient.to allow the voters (or visi- tors, as they are called on the | agenda) to have their say during the course of a public meeting. The ‘Cross Mountain View | Guest Home, Inc., Sweet Valley, was fully licensed to persue a personal care boarding home by the department of Public Wel- | a Pennsylvania ' Deputy Secretary of Public Wel- | fare, could not answer the ques- i tions posed by tv newsmen, nei- ther could Congressman Mc-*= § des Be EL . fare. Alberta Cross is the owner. | First Eastern had been the | target of speculation since an i FBI disclosure that an investiga- | J tion is ongoing at that institu- § tion. Bank officials admitted the investigation involves two former : employees, leaving anyone who § has recently left the institution's | \ employ, suspect. s “ay SEES
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers