So its been a rough two weeks- getting the kids back to school and myself back to work.
I recall reading a comment that was posted on one of the other teaneck blogs. I spent some time looking for it to no avail. (I think it was by "sky king")
The comment was some general ideas and opinions on how he/she would reduce the municipal expenses within the budget.
Included in his ideas (followed by my comments, some which may hurt) are:
Library- reduce hours (100% agree- I have not been to a the library in years but in today's electronic age, heck they don't publish encyclopedias anymore, I would think there is less of a demand. Regardless, it is an extremely costly building to run, especially with staff etc. Opening at noon several days a week can add to sizable savings and not contribute to the illiteracy rate in Teaneck)
Higher rates for the recreation department (100% agree as well- About a year ago I recall a comment in which someone said that for $25 a program, they can sign up there kids, and if they do not go after the first week, nothing much was lost. As a parent of children in some of these programs, they are worth far more then they charge and certainly more then they cost to run, so doubling the cost would still be a partial subsidy but would add sizeable revenue to offset the departments expense)
Volunteer Fire Department (need more info/ ideas here- not my specialty)
Free Senior rides- need based (I think the key words here are need based. While there are certainly a portion of Teanecks elderly that truly need and cannot afford transportation, I am also a little upset by the constant cry of the seniors who cannot afford this or the other thing. Many of our seniors are sitting on properties with no mortgage. Clearly assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that's not taking into consideration any other assets. While not to sound harsh, I did say need based, if you cannot afford a ride it might be time for a reverse mortgage. Why should i subsidize your heirs? ) I did say that my comments would be truthful and that they may hurt- so note the "need based" portion.
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17 comments:
"I have not been to a the library in years ..."
Not knowing what you're talking about doesn't slow you down one bit does it?
There would be no substantial savings from closing the library to the public till noon several days a week.
Anonymous said:
There would be no substantial savings from closing the library to the public till noon several days a week.
Jervis says:
Every cent counts! A penny saved is a penny earned. Start paying Jervis' tax bill and then we will see what your liberal, tree hugging, big government loving, opinion will be.
Why do i need to go to the libray to know that:
12 hours a week closed equals 600 hours a year of not using:
Heat
Electricity
Water
Sewer
SALARY
Wear/ tear/ etc
that spells substantial, unless you are looking for the $50 million cure which does not exist.
I can afford to send my kids to private school, why should I pay for public education?
I don't commit crimes, why should I pay for a police department - let the criminals pay.
I don't pay with matches, why should I pay for a fire department because other people are careless?
It's my hard earned money. I want to spend all of it on big plasma TV sets, SUV's and fancy clothing. Everybody else can go to hell for all I care, all you commie, tree-hugging bastards with your stupid "community relations" and "why can't we all get along crap".
You all make me vomit!
In all seriousness, the value of the blogging experience is not merely limited to the access that it gives individuals to come forward with ideas, but in the posts themselves.
When you do not have enough information on a given topic, a la I haven't been to [sic] the library in years...it would behoove you to get acquainted with the facts before issuing forth opinions. We see that quickly enough in those that comment.
As far as those that say...why should we have to do something about those children...
Get over yourselves. If you don't know the reason that we as a society need to take care of that...I feel truly sorry for you.
12 hours a week closed equals 600 hours a year of not using:
Heat
- Possible savings during the winter. As for how much...do you have any figures?
Electricity
- Possible savings, although that depends on how much is used. I'd imagine that even more savings could be accomplished through lower cost measures like switching to compact fluorescent lighting.
Water
- if as you say noone is there, what water consumption is being used? Negligle savings.
Sewer
- If sewer bills went down based on hours of operation, I'd have no bill when I had to work like crazy last month? Negligle savings.
SALARY
- Are these salaried or hourly employess. It might pay to check your facts before you speak.
The savings are illusory. The library staff does not sit around doing nothing in the hours when there are few clients. Locking the public out does not mean the workers would not need heat, electricity etc.
It's like saying the cost of reading material would go down it the if you close the doors to the public when it's not heavily used.
If you have no clue to how a library works it's easy to imagine savings by just shutting down for a few hours a day.
Not just senior rides -- ALL senior programming is currently free, regardless of income. You are a senior when you turn 55.
School busing: total cost per year = $5 million; state aid for busing is $1.3 million.
School Bussing-
So the people who pay approximately 65% of the school budget through their property taxes get about 6% back through bussing.
Do you realize what taxes would be if every taxpayer in town sent their kids to public school?
I love the hipocrisy here. Cut the seniors programs because they don't deserve it, but if busing were cut that's an entitlement. If real cuts are going to be made, even the hypocrites here will have to feel the pain.
Lets hear where this 65% number comes from.
For the record, most taxpayers in Teaneck do not have children, so "every taxpayer in town" can't "send their kids to public school." Of the over 13,000 households in Teaneck, only 34.9% have children under 18 living in them (see US Census 2000). The other 65.1% pay taxes that support the public schools, even though they don't have children to send to the schools.
School busing: total cost per year = $5 million; state aid for busing is $1.3 million.
Sorry, I do not use the local schools, I do not get the privilage of bussing but I do pay my taxes and I do get compensated for driving my kids to school each day.
Perhaps I should get a break of the school portion of my taxes and then the township would not have to reimburse me for transporation...HECK that is a great idea...all people that do not use the schools get a refund or deduction on their taxes!
So we should just all pay what we think is our fair share? I've never called the police department, so I don't have to pay for their services. I've also never had to call the fire department, so I don't want to pay for them either. I'm also not a senior citizen, so I'm not going to pay for any senior services.
Do you see how that just doesn't work? We live in a town that has an infrastructure that ALL of us must support. The question is how to support the infrastructure with dwindling resources, not whether or not to support it.
Remember to compare our services and expenditures with those of surrounding towns.
Remember to compare our services and expenditures with those of surrounding towns
Ok, the services suck and we spend too much!
Close the public schools! Let's stop pretending that's not what would really solve the countries problems.
I would urge anyone who has not been to the Teaneck Library in years to give it a try. It is a great resource in our community, it is managed by forward thinking people.
If we dismantle our fire department we eliminate the single most reliable department in the township. As I am sure anyone can attest to, interactions with our fire department personnel are positive, under often stressful circumstance.
As far as our complaining seniors are concerned, I can say that I too have no mortgage, and am living on a reasonably high salary, and find my budget to be constrained. I do not travel the world or purchase jewels. Living life costs money. If you believe that a fixed income today will feel as good 20 years in, I suggest you have not thought hard enough about the cost of living into your golden years.
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