MY TURN By Jack Fisher

Fiscal responsibility isn’t always popular During the years that I was a member of the Delaware Valley School Board I was chairman of the Budget, Finance and Audit Committee. As a leader and chairman of the BFA, I knew it was my job to produce a budget and line up the finances of our school district so as to provide long-term stability and lasting strength to weather any financial storm. Decisions I made, which I knew to be beneficial to our community and our schools, were not always popular. Popularity is fleeting. Financial strength, integrity of purpose and the honor that comes from speaking plainly is, for me, what lasts and meets the test of time. So here we are in 2009 in the midst of what can only be described as a category five economic financial hurricane. Over and over I am gratified to hear that the balance sheet of the Delaware Valley School District is stable and holding firm. This stability comes from the lasting principle of a balanced budget with adequate reserves. Perhaps at the top of all priorities of a school director is the physical safety of children and staff. With that comes the need to make sure that the significant campus infrastructure is maintained in top working condition and not let it fall into disrepair or become a danger or a hazard. One of the most immediate and pressing problems I faced was that of the water system at the Dingman-Delaware campus. Previous school boards, more interested in zero tax increases than being responsible stewards of community assets, led to years of board neglect and/or band-aid repairs that had not come close to fixing the underlying problem. The system of water supply and distribution at the Dingman-Delaware campus needed a major overhaul. The price tag was estimated to be one million dollars. I saw fit to increase the funding of the capital expenditures (CAPEX) reserve to the amount of $950,000 per year, which represents just 1% of the estimated total district infrastructure values of $95 million dollars. I provided board members with documents that showed an annual contribution to the CAPEX Reserve should be between 1% to 3% of total values. Such a reserve when properly funded would provide a stable inflow of cash to meet the capital replacement needs of deteriorating roofs, furnaces and HVAC systems, crumbling roadways etc. etc., that make up the campus capital infrastructure, for years on end. Now here is the fact to face. To fund the CAPEX Reserve you have to raise the funds from the General Fund which derives its funding from the taxpayers of the DV school district. Hence I recommended a tax increase which I do not regret to this day. I am fortunate to see that in the next few weeks the new water supply and distribution facility at the Dingman-Delaware campus will come online. Clean drinkable fresh water trumps a modest tax increase in my mind. It has been disappointing , however, to see the $950,000 annual allocation to the CAPEX Reserve reduced first to $440,000 in order to bring the 2008-09 current year tax increase down to the politically correct amount of zero demanded by the Taxpayers United crowd lead by Bob Goldsack. Undoubtedly we have returned to putting politics above safety. Indeed many needed capital projects remain to be done. One just needs to ask to see the list of projects handed out at Long Range Planning Committee meetings. To make matters worse for the future is the fact that Mr. Silverstone, who is now chairman of BFA at DV has reduced the CAPEX Reserve funding for 2009-10 to zero. This is not only irresponsible but could prove to shake and unhinge the stability of DV finances. Thus a future DV School Board will be left once again to act responsibly and fund the CAPEX Reserve to an acceptable reasonable level so that student safety is never again compromised. Jack Fisher is a CPA, a former director of the Delaware Valley School District, who resides in Dingmans Ferry.