FAIR plan settlement reached
From Channel 13:
Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks will announce a settlement this afternoon with the Monroe County School Boards Association regarding the disputed FAIR plan.
Brooks proposed the FAIR plan last fall and it was passed by the legislature. The plan took $29 million of sales tax money from suburban school districts and used it to pay the county’s Medicaid bill.
The school districts successfully sued to get the FAIR plan overturned.
Sources say the settlement involves extending the county’s 2008 payment to school districts over time, so the county is not stuck with a huge budget gap this year.
Related posts:
Won’t the county have a huge gap anyway, not just from what is owed to the schools from last year, but also that amount which was already a gap and was the reason for the “FAIR” plan?
So how many more services and jobs will be cut as the county attempts to plug these gaps with one shot temporary fixes while refusing to look at property taxes? And if this becomes a less inviting place to live for those looking to relocate or considering whether to stay, then will the claims about not raising taxes really benefit the community as the Republicans have asserted all along? Or will we keep losing our tax base as people try to find a community where they can depend on government to provide services and cover costs honestly, without playing shell games or considering long term viable solutions?
With Minarik no longer there
Maggie was free to ditch F.A.I.R.
A real turn around
or just setting the ground
to salvage the Renaissance Square?
[...] really must suck to be you, right now, Maggie. Here’s the latest from the D&C in regards to you’re ill-fated [...]
[...] Oh, and who does that quote remind you of? Let’s change the words a little: “RT and others told her it was against the law to enact the FAIR plan, especially without giving the Democrats in the county leg (or the public) time to discuss it. She [Maggie Brooks] said, ‘I’m the County Exec, I can do whatever I want until I appeal to a court that finally tells me I can’t.’” [...]