School Board Salary Increase Unwarranted: M. Johnson, Fargo

To the Editor:

I was quite upset when I heard on the radio and saw in newsprint that the School Board is worked so hard that they find the need to increase their salary for community service to the tune of $12,000 a year. It is quite apparent that the Fargo School District has too much money that it takes from the Fargo property owners, through the home charter rule, which amounts to a blank check.

They don’t realize that there are many, many people out there who are trying to survive in their older homes and are retired on Social Security. The retiree’s monthly check is only about half of what each school board member gets each month for a part-time job. Who does the School Board ask to help on all the many organizations in the community? For the most part it is older persons.

During the North Dakota elections, the big issue was property tax relief and Lord it has been needed for many years. The fly in the ointment is the School District, and the City of Fargo. The School District says it reduced the mill rate a small amount, and then the city comes along and increases the valuations so you wind up paying more property taxes and the School District gets richer.

I feel quite confident that anyone employed by the School District expects a healthy raise again.

For years, retired persons have seen their monthly checks increase in the two to three percent range. This is indeed welcomed by the retiree’s, but the problem here is that Medicare has increased several times the two or three percent and that other health plans have increased more so that some people don’t see a jump in spendable income.

Retired people use their money to buy gas to go to and come home from a place that they are donating their time to. Is the time coming when retired persons simply say I can’t afford this anymore?

M. Johnson
Fargo