William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-25-17

The longest war was between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly. It lasted 335 years.

The Isles of Scilly are English but were used as a base against the Dutch by the Royalists during the English Civil War. Rather than declaring war on all of England — which was in the hands of Cromwell’s Parliamentarians, who were their allies — the Netherlands declared war specifically on Scilly on March 30, 1651. The declaration became moot when Cromwell captured the isles.

In 1985, the chairman of the Isle of Scilly Council, wrote to the Dutch Embassy in London in attempt to dispel the legend that his community was at war with a nation of Europe. The Embassy, however, found that the legend to be true as no peace treaty was ever signed.

So on April 17, 1986, that was rectified.

The longest war was between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly. It lasted 335 years.  The Isles of Scilly are English

 

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-25-17 Longest War

Pa School Districts Reserves Are $4.4 B

Pa School Districts Reserves Are $4.4 B

By Leo Knepper

The amount of money held by school districts in “reserve” has more than doubled over the last 10 years according to a new report by the Commonwealth Foundation. At the end of the 2015-2016 school year, district reserves were over $4.4 billion. According to that same report, there were 13 school districts who held more than 20 percent of their budget in reserves and requested property tax increases well above the limit established by the Department of Education. Not only did they request higher taxes, they did it between eight and ten times in a ten year period. In other words, the school districts could operate on their savings accounts for more than 20 percent of the year, but still wanted taxpayers to pad the accounts even more.

One of the names on the list, Lower Merion School District, has been sued by local taxpayers for their budget practices. A Commonwealth Judge found their budget practices so egregious that the district was ordered to roll back their 2016 tax increase. despite a $56 million reserve fund, Lower Merion is seeking a tax increase again this year that exceeds the state cap.

The worst offenders among schools seeking unnecessary tax increases are not confined geographically. Rather, it seems that there is a systemic problem among school boards. It is hard to argue against keeping a rainy day fund in reserve. At some point, the reserve fund becomes an insult to taxpayers. Although school district finances do not garner the same attention as national, or even state-level scandals, understanding how they are spending your money is vital.

To see how your local school district stacks up, take a few minutes and review the financial data collected by the Department of Education. You will probably be surprised by what you find.

PS-The Senate will begin working to advance pension reform legislation later this week. Their legislation does not include funding reform at this point. Please, take a moment and contact the General Assembly about this important issue.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Pa School Districts Reserves Are $4.4 B

Pa School Districts Reserves Are $4.4 B