Elk Konnected Hand out at County Commissioners meeting on 4/25

[Ross]

These should explain the Trap of Questions as they were labeled as by a LIBERAL SOCIALIST!

WRONG IS WRONG!

SOCIALISM IS WRONG!

USING SOCIALISM TO BUY VOTES IS WRONG!

[proelkco]

Again Ross, Elk Konnected has gone away. It has not been together for at least a year. And yes I am sure of this fact so please let it alone. Have a good day everyone.

[Ross]

Again Ross, Elk Konnected has gone away. It has not been together for at least a year. And yes I am sure of this fact so please let it alone. Have a good day everyone.

How can you be so sure?

Are you saying Elk Konnected, LLC failed?

Show some proof, please !

If it is non existent as you allude to
then no one should be concerned
with me discussing a ghost!

It appears Elk Konnected may have let their Kansas Business LLC expire but that does not mean it does not still exist as a private little club, now does it?

Public Squares Communities, Inc continues to claim Elk Konnected as a community at http://publicsquarecommunities.com/communities/

Again I ask, if it is non-existent and I am talking about a ghost, what's the big deal!

Perhaps I should refer to the "Old Guard" that Elk Kon nected referenced when they first got started?

[Ross]

I just stumbled upon some very good advice
It is very tough advice to follow
But I shall try very hard to follow it !

[Ross]

About that Partial Distribution of Wind Farm Income, what they are talking about is Distribution of Money in the County Coffers not Wind farm money. In other words giving away FREE MONEY the County has no need for! A very simple form of Socialism !

The County Commissioners said they were going to write a Resolution to support the action of giving away $100,000.00.

Well the only resolution I have seen as of the present time does not appear to authorizing such action.

However, it does offer assistance for emergency fire fighting services only. And in my opinion every dollar should be accounted for by requests in front of the County Commissioners Board and supported by receipts of purchases with that money after the purchase. 

You can read the resolution at:
https://app.box.com/files/0/f/0/1/f_63404333741

I do not see where this authorizes the Distribution of $100,000.00 for any reason what-so-ever.

Unless there is another resolution that states giving away $100,000.00 I don't see where they have any legitimate reason to do so. It would only represent "Socialism" in my opinion !

If the county has no need for tax dollars, I would appreciate it if they returned Ross's money, really Ross's Tax Dollars.

I do understand this is not what Socialists want to hear and that this is not a popular stance, but when you take money from one person and give it to another person that is "Socialism" plain and simple !

I'm pretty certain that none of you folks approve of Obama's plan to pay what he calls repatriation to every black person in the US because of the slavery days with taxpayers dollars. That is simply "Socialism" as well !



Good Night All

[Ross]

West Elk USD-282 School Board and School Superintendent are at it again.

Remember last fall they attempted to pull a fast on on the property owners and taxpayers by slipping a Resolution by us in the Ad's section of the newspaper to raise our taxes. Remember that?

We stopped them with an opposition petition !

Remember they stated they voted to only take 1 mill of the 8 mill in the Resolution attempting to get me to stop with the petition !  Their attempt failed to  "dissuade" me from my task of collecting the signatures provided by you the voters and property taxpayers.

Well to prove they were lying when they said, they voted to only take 1 mill, they are back with their Resolution for 8 mill. 

Mind you on the front page of the newspaper
the School Superintendent says 4 mill, but the Resolution in the Ad's Section says 8 mill. You can bet they will take the 8 mill.

They just raised our property taxes 4 mill this last fall and that is not enough ! Why not?

And I can almost guarantee you they will raise property taxes again this coming fall, yet another 4 mill.

It's time for another Opposition Petition to stop this foolishness.

It's going to take me a little time for me to get started on it because, I have a lot of work  and personal business to tend to.

I have the old petition and perhaps all I have to do is change the dates. But I also have to check the resolution word for word against the new resolution in this weeks newspaper to insure not one single word has been changed. A changed word may nullify the petition.

The School Board and the School Superintendent have wasted 100's of thousands of dollars fighting the taxpayers and it is time they get smart and stop wasting money and stop lying to the taxpayers !

They don;t care how many of the elderly in Elk County do without so they can pay their property taxes and they keep proving it. Some of the elderly do without medications because of the elevated property taxes.

The County gives property owners in the West Elk School District the same taax break as everyone else in Elk County but West Elk immediately raise their taxes on property owners and takes that tax break away.

They really do not care.

I do, I care !

I am fortunate, I happen to believe, I have the very best health insurance in the country and do not have to do without. It is very expensive but well worth the money. I wish all the elderly in Elk County were as fortunate,
But they are not and I will do my bet to help them by doing another Opposition Petition and I am praying the voters and property owners and taxpayers will help by signing the petition.

[Ross]

Good Morning Everyone,

An update on the Opposition Petition to the West Elk School Board and School Superintendent's Resolution
in the weeks local Newspaper.

I have written the Opposition Petition and sent it off to the the County Counselor as required by law.
It won't be long and myself and maybe a few volunteers will be out collecting signatures.
The only acceptable signatures are of registered voters in the West Elk 282 School District !

I appreciate all those that signed the similar petition last fall and hope you will sign again.

This would not be necessary if the School Superintendent and the School Board had the common sense
to accept "NO" for an answer !

But as the past has shown they lack that common sense !

How many times were they told no, don't shut down our grade schools ?
How many times were the told no, no new school building or construction?

What they need to learn to do is operate with-in their budget instead of performing
arrogantly ignorant and wasteful sending !

Was it an emergency to pay $7,000.00 and then fire the best man in the county for the job and hire an outside company for $25,000.00 to crown the football field ?

Was it an emergency to put in under ground sprinkler systems on the sports fields at what $10,000.00 or
possibly $15,000.00 ? I really don't know how much they paid for the sprinkler system. If i get time i'll do a Freedom of Information Act request to acquire that information.

Mr. Moore still sings the old song about the West Elk School's Financing that i have shown to be untrue.

Presently the finances's received by West Elk is $25,000.00 dollars for each student. This is the highest amount of funding in the State of Kansas.

And as Mr. Moore pointed out in the newspaper, West Elk raised our taxes by 4 mill this last fall.
And they have been doing so every year without justification to the voters and property owners.
He did not mention being told no on the same resolution last fall.

YOUR WALLET IS THEIR WALLET

YOUR BANK ACCOUNT IS THEIR BANK ACCOUNT !

AND THEY DON'T EVEN ASK YOUR PERMISSION TO TAKE YOUR MONEY !

THEY SIMPLY DEMAND AND TAKE YOUR MONEY !

You can sign the petition once again and tell them you are the boss and they can keep their hand out of your wallet.

By doing so you are instruction them to be professional in their jobs and have discussions about what they are doing before taking actions and voting on the action?

By doing so you are instruction them to operate with-in their budget !

By doing so you are instruction them to operate more efficiently and effectively !

By doing so you are instruction them to operate without throwing money away foolishly !

Together we can get these problems corrected !

Please sign the Opposition Petition when someone comes around !

We were successful last fall and can be successful this time !

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK,
YOU DESERVE IT,
SIGN THE OPPOSITION PETITION,
DO IT FOR YOURSELF !

[Ross]

  So did you read the USD-282 School Superintendent Moore's letter to the editor ?


He says if you listen to anyone else but him they are lying to you in a very polite and Politically Correct manner.
Well I am not so polite and i have never been Politically Correct and I assure you I am not a liar.

So Mr. Moore you and your lies can go sit on it.

I totally recognize Mr. Moore's intellect and his abilities to manipulate the School Board.
He sit on the Board which is suppose to be only the Elected Board Members.
He sit's at the Elbow of the School Board Presidents elbow and he does an excellent job of manipulation.
None of the Board members have the intellect to know they are being manipulated and they seldom have open discussions amongst themselves. As Mr. Moore once told me it takes years to train new board members. To me that is saying the board members are incapable of educating themselves about what their duties really are. That information and education is readily available on the Kansas Board of Education web site.

Mr. Moore letter fails to mention the waste of hundreds of thousands of dollars persuing the voters to build a new school building and the extensions. He would not explain why they refused to accept a "NO" from the voters. He also does not tell about why the Air-conditioning cost $1,476,000 does he. They were advised several years earlier by KU to get the Air-conditioning done when it was able to be done for under $100,00000.00.  He also does not explain that they could have contracted to get half done this year and half next year does he?

He is still sing that old song about the budget change saying no one but him can understand it.
You make up your own mind ! Is Mr. Moore the only one that can understand the following numbers:

These are the state funding numbers for West Elk.

USD 282-West Elk received a $259,033 increase in the first year of the block grant (14-15) and a $351,570 increase over the life of the block grant (3 years.) Of this $351,570, only $64,052 is an increase to KPERS. That means that only 18.2% of the total increase is in KPERS. If the school board claims that the increase is only to KPERS, then they are ignoring 82% of the new money we are giving them.

Teacher pensions are a legitimate education expense, so we are creating greater transparency in school funding. However, in order to prevent schools from using teacher pension dollars for operating costs, the money is routed to a separate KPERS account shortly after it arrives in the USD痴 general fund. This way, we can show with greater transparency the total level of support that the state is giving to the district, but we also can make sure that KPERS dollars are used for KPERS.

-Ian Fury

Policy Analyst

Kansas Office of the Governor


Take a little trip to the following Kansas Department of Education web site and learn with their interactive program. Mr. Moore won't share this opportunity with you, but I will.
http://cpfs.ksde.org/chart_tool.aspx

Do we need Higher Property Tax Rates for West Elk
OR
Do We need a More Efficient Administration
And
School Board that pays Attention
To Efficiency
?

This is probably information West Elk USD 282 would probably prefer you don't know.
Remember the Superintendent said it cost something like $8,000 per student?
I was guessing more like $13,000, boy was I wrong ! But then I don't have acccess to all the school's financial books.
There will most likely be excuses made for the lack of efficiency and it should be expected.

2014-15 AMOUNT PER PUPIL 1000-2100-2200 SERIES COMBINED COSTS
Low to High with Cooperative Districts Highlighted -- taken from KSDE SF16-010
(If it was high to low
We would be Number ONE in the State
instead of last on the list)

 
                                                                  No. of                     2014-15              2014-15       
                                                                Students                 Expenditures         Amount
                                                                                                All Funds              Per Pupil
D0282   West Elk Elk                                     318.8                 5,599,644            17,565
D0113   Prairie Hills Nemaha                     1,092.5                8,135,085              7,446
D0446   Independence Montgomery          1,950.2              13,902,973              7,129
D0392   Osborne County                               287.6                 2,356,396              8,193
D0460   Hesston                                           803.3                  5,668,020              7,056
D0381   Spearville                                        340.8                  2,483,670              7,288




You can verify this information by going to: http://kslegislature.org/li/b2015_16/committees/ctte_spc_2015_special_committee_on_k12_student_s_1/documents/testimony/20151110_04.pdf

All School Districts in Kansas are listed in this PDF form.

Please go to http://www.cascity.com/howard/forum/index.php/topic,11780.msg228995.html#msg228995 for a better reading of the above quote !

Be sure to read the letter from Senator Steve Abrams on page 3 of this weeks news paper. !

You decide who is lying !
You decide if you want your wallet open for them to take whatever they want to take, when ever they want to take it !

They just raised your property taxes 4 mill this last fall and asked for another 8 mil in a resolution which you chose to shoot down by signing a petition.

They are doing the very same thing right now. Superintendent Moore and the school Board are using someone else Resolution for  8 mill not the 4 mill he claims they are asking for ! Read the Resolution in the want adds for yourself, it says 8 mill, just like last time. If they wanted 4 mill that is what would be in the resolution not 8 mill.

The Resolution states they need money to pay for housing and board pupils enrolled in n area vocational school operated under the board !  Folks there is no such thing at West Elk USD282 !  This is a blatant lie.
Call the Superintendent and ask, Call any school Board Member and ask !

I can tell you the answer right now. Mr. Moore told me last fall when i questioned him about this statement and he said they use to provide that function years ago, but no kids are doing it today. The resolution is just a standard form.

The actual truth, yes the Resolution was developed for some school and everyone is simply copying it. It should only be used as a guide to create their own Resolution. Are they to dumb to know that, are they to lazy to write on that pertains specifically to West Elk? The answer is no. This prefabricated Resolution is used to confuse you the voter, so you won't question their actions. You see that had to re-write the top section of  the resolution to be West Elk Specific and the dates of publication in the newspaper to make it legal.

So really who is lying to you ?

I am betting they will raise our property taxes again in the fall before legislation on the November Ballot to reduce the yearly 4 mill increases are reduced to cost of living and forcing them to come to the voters for any additional mill levy.

Do you want to give them 8 mill via the resolution to day and another 4 mill in the fall?

I may or someone else may approach you about signing a petition as Mr. Moore full expects and has told you not to believe us. We will not be prodding any one to sign, we will only ask if you say no, that's it, nothing more.  If you decide to consider signing or are sure you want to sign, we will ask you to read the petition and the Resolution which is part of the Opposition Petition.

The only requirement to sign is to be a registered voter that lives with in the West Elk USD-282 District. And we will take your word for it. No ID required. The Elk County Clerk and County Election Officer will verify each and every signature against the Registered Voters List for the West Elk School District.

Discuss this issue with your friends, family, neighbors.  Have you had enough taxation ?
I only ask that you think for yourself !

[Ross]

Mr. Moore didn't tell you this, did he?

Funding Facts For Teachers

As teachers, we need to be more activw in attaining information and questioning selective data provided to us. As teachers, we impart to our students how important it is to think critically. We should do the same with school funding,.

Don't take anything at face value.
Ask questions. Demand answers.
Knowledge is Power!
Isn't just for kids.

https://kansaspolicy.org/teachers-guide-education-funding/

Shouldn't the above information apply to tax payers as well?

The deeper I dig the worse it sounds, but there may be some relief for property owner taxpayers in the new HB 2741 if it passes.

***********************************************************************

Funding Per Pupil Database

Per-pupil funding from taxpayers at the state, federal and local levels.  State-mandated 20 mills of property tax for school support had been erroneously reflected as Local aid until it was corrected by the Legislature in 2015; on average, the 2015 transition increased State aid and decreased Local aid by roughly $1,200 per pupil.

Year       USD #   District Name   County      State              Federal        Local     Total
2015    282      West Elk                 Elk         $12,182         $5,271       $7,597   $25,049

Apparently the $17,565 I posted earlier did not include the $7,597 dollars per child from local property taxes.[/b]

Check it out at: http://www.kansasopengov.org/kog/databank#report_id=35&Year=2015&USDNumber=282&DistrictName=West%20Elk&County=Elk

******************************************************************************

KANSAS LEGISLATURE INTRODUCES TRANSFORMATIVE NEW SCHOOL FUNDING SYSTEM

Dave TrabertMarch 29, 2016Education

To the surprise of many legislative observers, a brand new school finance system was proposed last week in House Appropriations with an effective date of July 1, 2017.  The unique approach set forth in HB 2741 includes a new method of equalizing capital outlay aid and eliminates the need for Local Option Budget equalization by providing all funding needed to meet the adequacy test through the state budget.

The new system retains some elements from the old system but it is largely a new approach that seems reasonable calculated to give school districts the funding needed to meet expected outcomes while requiring more efficient use of taxpayers' money, which is the Supreme Court's constitutional test on adequacy.  It is not the Court's role to determine the actual amount of funding, but as they specified in Gannon, to determine whether the funding provided is "...reasonably calculated to have all Kansas public education students meet or exceed the standards set out in Rose and presently codified in K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 72-1127."  The test is whether funding is reasonably calculated (how the Legislature arrived at the decision) rather than whether they selected a particular level of funding.

The plan is also much easier to understand than the old byzantine formula and should dramatically streamline the budgeting process as well as providing a great deal more predictability to local school boards.

Taxpayers should appreciate the first-ever efficiency requirements built in to the plan; our recent statewide market search study found that 88 percent of Kansans believe local school boards should make efficient use of taxpayer money and 73 percent believe there should be some efficiency requirements included in a school funding formula.  But there will also likely be considerable pushback on this plan since it's not the 'blank check' that some would like to see provided.

Read much more at:  https://kansaspolicy.org/kansas-legislature-introduces-transformative-new-school-funding-system/

[Ross]

Funding Per Pupil Database

Per-pupil funding from taxpayers at the state, federal and local levels.  State-mandated 20 mills of property tax for school support had been erroneously reflected as Local aid until it was corrected by the Legislature in 2015; on average, the 2015 transition increased State aid and decreased Local aid by roughly $1,200 per pupil.

Year       USD #   District Name   County      State              Federal        Local     Total
2015    282      West Elk                 Elk         $12,182         $5,271       $7,597   $25,049

Apparently the $17,565 I posted earlier did not include the $7,597 dollars per child from local property taxes.[/b]

Check it out at: http://www.kansasopengov.org/kog/databank#report_id=35&Year=2015&USDNumber=282&DistrictName=West%20Elk&County=Elk

******************************************************************************

Read much more at:  https://kansaspolicy.org/kansas-legislature-introduces-transformative-new-school-funding-system/