A message to all! Come join us on Tuesday, April 23, 1t 7PM, for the meeting of the School Committee, at which time they will discuss the override they are asking for. Come and speak up and help us defeat this override. This committee again wants the public to bail them out of poor management!

The next meeting will be May 6th at 7:15 pm at city hall when there will be a joint meeting of the city council and school committee to discuss the override that they will recommend. Please show up to voice you opinion about this.

So where are we now with school revenue streams? We continue to have millions pouring in from the previous override, Chapter 70 funding from the state continues its annual increases to cities and towns, 2.5% increase is automatically added each year to our property tax bills, our home evaluations continue to rise thus adding more money to city coffers, just about every fee in the city has increased, money in the Mount Hood Enterprise account has significantly increased to the point that it funds the upkeep of all our parks and open spaces, and finally we traditionally have about 5 million dollars in free cash by the end of each year.

We have a fiscal management issue and NOT a revenue issue. Our city and school leaders need to use our money more judiciously by implementing tighter fiscal management tools and procedures, increase budget transparency, and provide the necessary oversight to anticipate and prevent further budget deficits. Until then, all of us need to remain skeptical of any override request.