Update: It appears that the Mayor of Middletown has had enough of the budget charade.

The can-kicking charade of the Woodstock budget process has begun once again and there is plenty to mock in both the Town and BOE budgets.

The specter of the potential cuts in state aid appears to have very little bearing on the approach to this year’s budget requests, and while I don’t have a crystal ball, I don’t think anybody really needs one to see what’s coming down the road, yet the bloat and disregard for quality of education, not to mention taxpayers, continues.

Have a look at the proposed town budget -HERE- (.xls).  While I understand that raises have been put off for a couple of years, the carrying of assistants in nearly every department defies any conceivable logic in a town of this size; one has to wonder what work load justifies these positions. Walk in some afternoon and have a look around at the activity and judge for yourself.

The BOE continues to obfuscate the budget bloat with the same old scare tactics we hear year after year. This year there is a slight twist in that give-backs are being sought from teachers and administration- a ploy that has little chance of success just as it does at the state level. Some of the line items in their ‘scenario document’ released yesterday literally made me laugh out loud- have a look -HERE- (pdf).  As you can see, the “cuts” are not cuts in any way but simply more smoke and mirrors designed to infuriate parents and those foolish enough to believe that this is how money will actually be spent.

Be sure to keep an eye on the upcoming BOE cash dump in May and June where year after year we see the “cut” items as well as all sorts of questionable expenditures emanate from our “starved for funds” school system.