Editor's note: Delaware Valley School Board Member Pam Lutfy wrote this e-mail letter following the May 14 school board meeting.

Sham! Shame! Following tonight’s Delaware Valley School Board meeting, I am compelled to compose this letter to the citizens of Pike County. I am ashamed that board members who voted affirmatively for the 2009-2010 school budget believe the citizens of this county to be idiots! When you wake up tomorrow, you may hear that the DV Board passed a school budget with a “0 percent tax increase.” BIG SHAM! This so called “0 percent tax increase budget” was calculated with “stimulus fund money” that has not yet been provided to our district and possibly may never be provided as pointed out by the very same members who voted for the budget! This is one of the biggest deceptions that I have yet encountered. To tell Pike County citizens that this budget has a 0 percent tax increase when in actuality it may cost the taxpayers anywhere between a 2.5 percent to a 4 percent in increased taxes is unconscionable. I for one refuse to be associated with this ridiculous fabrication. Using stimulus money, which we do not have to “balance” a budget is highly unprofessional and indicative of an attitude of profound indifference to a fragile business community and struggling home owners. DV Board incumbents (Silverstone, Goldsack) recently sent a letter to Pike County residents promising they will provide a 0 percent increase to the taxpayers. Gee, after the election, do you think they will raise taxes to balance the “real” budget? I remember this happening when a former Board member ran for the office of commissioner. A week after losing the election, the budget was re-opened and the taxes were increased. Interesting how history repeats itself. Our country is in its worst shape since the Great Depression and our local educational leaders and fellow board members are the last to understand this! Locally, The Pike County food pantry has an alarming demand. Jobs in Pike County are disappearing daily. Businesses are closing their doors. Apartments sit empty. The department of Public Welfare has never been so busy. There are no summer jobs for college students. And it’s a time to raise taxes?? How dare my fellow board members show such disrespect to our community! There is no way to get around this con job! Citizens deserve the truth. The real facts of the budget must be revealed and citizens must demand transparency from all Board members. Budgets must be based upon real monies, not reckless gambling behavior. Never have I been so embarrassed to be a member of the DV Board. Never have I been so insulted at the disrespect shown for the taxpayers in our county. So often I hear administrators and board members lament that parents need to learn how to say no to their children. I think the time has come when board members need to say no to the requests of the administration and more importantly public citizens need to say no! no! no! to board members’ shameful actions. I do not support a tax increase. But I would rather present an honest budget showing the hidden tax increase than to present a lie to our citizens! Citizens, according to Pennsylvania statute you have the right to view the budget during the next 30 days. Please request to view the budget. Ask about the funds and “absence of funds” so you may see for yourself what is happening here. You have a voice about this budget. Get involved and demand better representation. Together we can make a difference. Fellow Board members, you call this budget an example of fiscal management? What a joke! Of the Board members present, Pam Lutfy and Sue Schor were the only two members who voted no for this charade called a budget. I write this letter because my reputation is more important than an election. For those board members, not running for re-election: Where is your thinking? Would not it have been less deceiving to simply present the true facts regarding the need for this budget? Give our constituents more credit! Pam Lutfy Delaware Valley School Board member