School Board President Urges Taxpayers to Contact Their Legislators

In delivering his legislative update at Monday night’s East Penn Board of School Directors meeting, Charles Ballard, board president, urged those in attendance to contact their state legislators regarding the things that have been going on in Harrisburg of late. 

In particular, Ballard focused his attention on HB 1326, which he says is on the docket for Wednesday’s vote. In a nutshell, he explained, HB 1326 eliminates all Act 1 exceptions, forcing school districts to put any tax increases above the index to voter referendum.

“There are mandated costs from the state that go above the index,” Ballard said. “The legislators have been pulling the wool over the eyes of the taxpayers for years.”

Ballard pointed out that the state share for the cost of educating students in East Penn is below 20 percent today, while in the past it was a 50-50 split. 

One of Ballard’s chief concerns if HB 1326 passes comes from the fact that the measure would go into effect for the current budget cycle. 

“If this passes, we will have to make sudden draconian cuts to the budget,” he said. “We’ve spent months trying to deal with what they have already passed. They cannot pass a bill this late in the cycle that says ‘you have to redo the whole thing.’ 

“That is one of the things that set me off in the legislative area,” he said. “I would like to find out what they are smoking in Harrisburg because I want that franchise for Emmaus. It would help to supplement my retirement income. 

“It is unfair to throw these things at us this late in the game and expect us to roll with the punches,” he said. 

Ballard summed up his legislative report by stating that there is so much going on in Harrisburg that people need to stay focused on the top few concerns, reiterating the need for taxpayers to get in touch with their legislators and express their views on exceptions, vouchers and the “general unfairness” of what they are doing to the school districts.