Katherine Blume

I am strongly in favor of a Universal School District Budget Cap. In many small towns, a large proportion of voters are employed by the school district. This can make it exceedingly difficult to maintain reasonable school district budgets when there are a multitude of voters directly benefiting from the money being spent. It also makes it difficult for an individual school district to get a School District Budget Cap passed with a 3/5 majority. Everyone is concerned what will happen to their school district if it's the only one around with a budget cap. This bill levels the playing field. I am actively working to get a School District Budget Cap passed in the Weare School District. It is an uphill battle trying to show people that spending has skyrocketed over the last few years (and there are only performance decreases to show for it). All I hear are arguments about how property taxes are only going up because state funding is being cut. They will not acknowledge that there are 2 issues leading to the increase in property taxes: decreased state funding AND overspending. This bill would help address both of these issues and directly benefit local taxpayers.