Thursday, July 12, 2012
Robert Senter says the Upper Milford Board of Supervisors needs to start looking at the 2013 budget now and must start making financial plans for future township infrastructure.
The Upper Milford Board of Supervisors left the board’s July 5 meeting with a homework assignment, compliments of Supervisor Robert Sentner. Sentner is advocating that the board take a more proactive approach to the township’s budget process and wants to start looking at the 2013 budget now, rather than in the fall. Sentner also thinks the board should look at the budget from the perspective of what the township needs, rather than simply looking at what the township can afford. “In the past we always just make it (the budget) fit,” Sentner said. “We need to look at where the township is with things like EIT (Earned Income Tax) and what we’re going to need for the coming year and for future year projects. “A budget should be about what you …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Education Voters Pennsylvania has issued a statewide call to action for Wednesday, May 23, encouraging voters to contact their legislators about education funding.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Education Voters Pennsylvania has issued a statewide call to action for today, Wed., May 23, encouraging voters across Pennsylvania to contact their legislators to ask for “fair funding” for public education. In a prepared statement, Education Voters PA said: “As June begins, state legislators will start to work on their budget proposals and begin negotiating what the final budget will look like. In February, Governor (Tom) Corbett proposed a budget that will cement the $900 million dollar cuts he gave to public education funding. These cuts have lead to increases in class size, the closure of school buildings, the elimination of successful programs such as full-day kindergarten and tutoring and the loss of many instructional and support …
Friday, April 27, 2012
East Penn Invested Citizens held an education forum, asking questions about the future of public education, unfunded mandates and budgets on Wednesday night.
East Penn Invested Citizens Chairperson Nicole Basset didn’t pull any punches in kicking off Wednesday night’s EPIC forum on the future of public education. “Little by little, we are destroying the soul of public education,” said Bassett, a mother of three. The EPIC program, titled “Education Forum: What’s At Stake?” touched on recurring themes in most conversations about the future of public education, including unfunded special education mandates and school district budgets that have been stretched to the limits. Superintendents Thomas Seidenberger, of East Penn School District, Richard Snisack, of Parkland School District, and Russ Mayo, of Allentown School District, along with Susan Gobreski, Executive Director of Education Voters PA, …
40.534352
-75.502889
Emmaus High School
500 Macungie Ave, Emmaus, PA
/articles/epic-ask-school-superintendents-adminstrators-others-what-s-at-stake
875848
/locations/6887815
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Neighborhood Improvement Zone will use all non-property taxes collected in the zone to finance construction of the Allentown hockey arena.
The new Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) will likely impact East Penn School District’s 2012-2013 budget by pulling tax dollars away from the district to pay for the downtown hockey stadium, according to Charles Ballard, president of the East Penn School Board. Calling it a “probable hit on our budget,” Ballard told those in attendance at the board’s Jan. 23 meeting to “stay tuned” while the board looks into just what the NIZ will mean to East Penn. Ballard and the East Penn administration first learned that the district will lose earned income tax to the arena construction project from a recent report in The Morning Call. According to the report, the earned income tax generated in NIZ will be set aside in an arena …
40.537169
-75.506229
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/allentown-hockey-arena-could-impact-east-penn-budget
1760508
/locations/6288747
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Board veteran Alan Earnshaw "schools" new board member Lynn Donches on requests made of Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger.
The preliminary 2012-2013 East Penn budget passed by the East Penn Board of School Directors at Monday night’s board meeting is, by most accounts, a mere formality. The early-stage budget is required to qualify East Penn for special exceptions that would allow the district to exceed its state-imposed 1.7 percent tax increase cap. However, even though Monday night’s vote was, as Board President Charles Ballard described it, “a pro forma exercise,” it did prompt a bit of verbal sparring between veteran board member Alan Earnshaw and board newbie Lynn Donches. Donches asked Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger to provide the board with a zero percent budget, “so the board could see what it would mean to the kids and the community…
40.537169
-75.506229
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/board-members-butt-heads-on-preliminary-east-penn-budget
1760508
/locations/6245796
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
East Penn Board of School Directors approves preliminary 2012-2013 budget by 6-3 vote.
The East Penn Board of School Directors approved the district’s preliminary 2012-2013 budget at Monday night’s school board meeting by a 6-3 vote, completing the first step in a six-month trek to a final budget in June. The budget approved last night calls for a 3.2 percent real estate tax increase and is basically a formality at this point. The approval of a preliminary budget this early in the year is required to qualify East Penn for special exceptions that would allow it to exceed its state-imposed 1.7 percent tax increase cap. The way the state has the budget process set up requires districts like East Penn to ask to go above the cap before the districts really know if they need to exceed the cap and by how much. Superintendent of …
40.537169
-75.506229
/articles/preliminary-2012-2013-east-penn-budget-raises-taxes
/locations/6237455
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Money will be placed in a contingency account, according to budget and finance chair.
The Borough of Emmaus suddenly has an extra $300,000 in its coffers, according to a report made by the chair of the budget and finance committee at Monday night’s Emmaus Borough Council meeting. Councilman Brian Holtzhafer told council that the “budget came back better than we anticipated. Our revenue is significantly better. We have a much larger cash carry over than we expected.” He then praised the borough department heads for how they handled the 2011 budgets they were given. “Every single department came in under budget,” Holtzhafer said. “It is pretty amazing to me. The numbers we gave them were pretty tight and somehow or another, they made it work.” After the meeting Holtzhafer said that while the additional revenue would be “more …
40.533792
-75.491261
Emmaus Town Hall
28 S 4th St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/borough-discovers-extra-300-000-in-revenue
875820
/locations/6195102
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Mayor casts tie-breaking vote in standoff pitting a water bill increase against higher taxes at Monday’s Emmaus Borough Council meeting.
One way or another, Emmaus residents are going to be paying about $10 more a year to live in the borough in 2012. But, it’s still a little bit up in the air after Monday’s Emmaus Borough Council meeting as to whether that additional charge will come in the form of an increase on residents’ water bills or in the form of an approximately .25 mil tax increase. That’s because the six members of council in attendance last night split down the middle about whether the $63,000 needed to balance the budget should come in the form of a tax increase or a $10 yearly water bill increase. Emmaus Mayor Winfield Iobst cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of a water bill increase. “I prefer the water, our water is cheap,” he said. But, on Councilman Brent …
40.533792
-75.491261
Emmaus Town Hall
28 S 4th St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/living-in-emmaus-will-cost-10-more-in-2012
875820
/locations/5859229
Friday, November 18, 2011
East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger prepares school board for 2012-2013 budget process and foreshadows where potential challenges may lie.
East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger went into a bit of foreshadowing related to what the 2012-2013 budget process will be like at Monday night's East Penn Board of School Director's meeting. Seidenberger highlighted the many things that will make it more difficult to balance the next budget, including unknowns like Charter School tuition reimbursements, according to The Morning Call. “We don’t know what the basic special education subsidy will be, if there is any at all,” Seidenberger said. “Last year, there were basically no salary increases, all employees took wage freeze. There will be salary increases. “It promises to be an interesting budget season,” he said. One of the first decisions that the board will need …
40.537169
-75.506229
/articles/east-penn-looks-ahead-to-2012-2013-budget
/locations/5838708
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Upper Milford Board of Supervisors will hold special budget meeting on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in the township building.
The Upper Milford Township Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 to hold a special meeting on Thursday, Nov. 10 in the township building in order to review the preliminary 2012 township budget. The supervisors took a long hard look at the budget prepared by township supervisor Dan DeLong at the board's regularly scheduled Nov. 3 meeting, going through the budget line by line in order to address a shortfall of approximately $175,000. Chairman Steve Ackerman took the lead in the nip and tuck process, closing the deficit to about $15,000. Among the changes proposed by Ackerman include closing parks, freezing wages and postponing the Yeakels Mill Bridge project. At this point funding for the Emmaus Public Library is still in the budget, although …
ted.dobracki
6:34 pm on Wednesday, May 23, 2012
I was actually quite shocked on Monday to see an posting about this with links to this highly politicized event and organization on the first page of the official EPSD website. more ›