To the Editor:

As a senior citizen in this town, and a property owner for 40 yrs, something has got to be done about this school budget.

How many rabbits can we pull out of the hat each year to try to make ends meet?  It's the same old song 
year after year that we hear the school board trying to justify an increase.  Bedford is cutting their school 
budget along with Litchfield.  Manchester will have no increase, and New Boston schools are returning $689,000 
back to the town to lower the tax rate.  What is so special about Goffstown? 

Last year I wrote a letter to the Goffstown News, "We the taxpayers are the boss".  It didn't happen last year, but 
I'm more than confident that it will this year.  You go to any coffee shops in Pinardville and the voters are 
angry.  

Last year we said ouch!  How loud does the school board wants us to scream for them to get the message?  We 
are being bled dry.  

I, along with other seniors, have had no COLA increase in our social security for the last 2 years, and the cost of prescriptions have gone up.  But the teachers have got to get their raise, while the rest of the world is taking a cuts in pay and losing their jobs and benefits?  

I, and a lot of voters, have got a message for the school board:  Sharpen up your pencils and get to work cutting the budget.  If not, there's going to be one hell of a tea party at the School Town Meeting! 

The school board knows that the 5.2% increase won't fly with the voters, and the school board would be more than happy to settle for the default budget.  However, I've got news for them.  The high school gym will be packed with angry voters.  After the deliberation is done, someone will make a motion to cut the school budget by 10%.  Someone will second the motion and there will be a paper vote.  When the dust settles, the taxpayers will have won.  We will be the boss!

With that, I'm asking the GRA to include 3 special articles on the town warrant:

• The first article would ask the voters to see if the school district will leave the current SAU, and form a new one with having just Goffstown in it's own district.  The students from New Boston & Dunbarton would be still welcomed, but we would charge a per child tuition. The town would save a lot of money and duplication. 
  
• The second article would ask the voters to ban all unions from this town for both town & school employees after the current contracts expire.  This would be fair for the school and town employees as they would be in the same category as the taxpayers.  No raises for us, no raises for them. 
  
• The third article would ask the voters to replace the current elderly exemption with the following, which would allow property taxpayers to be exempt from paying the school portion of their property tax if a) they've own a home in this town for 30 or more years, b) it is their primary residence, and c) they are 65 years of age or older.  No other criteria, such as income, pensions, IRAs, or how much money you have in the bank would be considered.  This article would help a lot of seniors peace of mind and allow them to keep living in their current homes. 

I hope the voters read this letter and support the ideas mentioned. It's time to show the Town that the taxpayers are the boss and have the final say. 

Bob Girard
Pinardville