The Local School Tax Rate listed on your current property tax
bill is 2.015. The Estimated 14-15 Total
School Tax Rate on the BOE website is 2.0192.
When you peel away all the “revisions” done to this
current year’s budget and move beyond the rhetoric of the politicians running this town, you will
see that the budget introduced for the 2014-15 school year is actually higher than
the “original” 2013-2014 one adopted one year ago.
So is the tax levy.
A Record Article from one year ago stated that the
Lodi BOE adopted a 57.1 million dollar budget with a 38.8 million dollar local
tax levy. The BOE minutes from March 18,
2014 show that the Lodi BOE submitted a budget to the County showing a $57,225,592
total base budget with a $38,878,553 local tax levy.
If anyone read the public notice submitted by the
Lodi BOE to the Record on April 4th, you would probably think that
your taxes would be going down next year.
If you heard Tony Luna’s speech at the last council meeting, you would
think that the Lodi politicians had their greatest achievement yet.
When you look at the facts, your taxes will likely
be higher one year from now than they are today. And that is nothing to celebrate.
This is where the Lodi politicians have taken you:
And another month’s minutes show the Lodi BOE still working on Mr. Quatrone's $25,108 merit bonus (for doing the most basic responsibilities
of any superintendent).
Here are the minutes from the March 18, 2014 BOE
meeting (Lodi is the only district that removes them within one month):