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Patientman I have always stated that the Warwick School Department needs to continue to consolidate and cut costs. But I can't stand the hypocritics including the Mayor, Council President Donna Travis and other member of the City Council when they contiue to castigate the school department and knik pick over line items when the fact is that school budget is funded by local tax dollars s $500,000 over the 2008 allocation, while the city is $35,641,138 over the 2008 allocation.

The fact that this mayor and some council members are not willing to address the spending increases on the city side is political grand-standing.

Yesterday I learned that the city screwed up the healthcare contract so bad that just one line item 75-160 Police Officers Medical is over budget by $645,190 this year and for the FY2014 budget $511,349 over this years budgeted amount. That is a total of $1,115,539 that some how magically the city will find the money to fund it.

Listening to the Mayor's chief of staff and personnel director they actually presented the 2014 budget numbers as a decrease in spending. How did they do this? They based line the over budgeted 2012 figure of $3,410,733 and compared it to the 2014 budget item which is $3,276.892 and declared they are saving taxpayers money.

In reality the 2013 budgeted figure is $2,765,543 and that is the basis of my calculations above.

Let's give the schools a reprieve for one year and cut city spending by $2 million over the fiscal 2013 budget year and give it to the schools. That would mean no tax increase and send the message to schools to consolidate because you will not be receiving any more funding next year.

Under this plan schools new local tax dollars since 2008 would equal $2.5 million while the city $33.6 million.