Payson Roundup

Editor:

It is not surprising that with the economic downturn, we are experiencing financial woes. It is also surprising that the Payson Unified School District will be short because of a budget deficit in our district. But it is surprising that teachers and support staff are likely to be hit.

Teachers are required to be highly educated and yet are lowly paid regardless of deficits. It is only because teachers are so dedicated that we are so blessed with the teachers we have. If we lose support staff and teachers, everyone will suffer. A significant impact to our school district (and) negative impact to our community.

Payson has already had to bite the bullet with pay cuts, staff layoffs, economic woes, business closings, population reduction and rising costs in areas of gasoline, food and other commodities. Many people in Payson have already tightened their belts as tight as they could this past year.

Every time we lose one person because of the depressing recession, we also lose a family. When we lose a family the whole community loses. It is always impressive when I find out the caliber of our population. How educated and dedicated they all are.

We were in Rawlins, Wyo. when the boom went bust. We lost dedicated and qualified teachers and never seemed to recover from that loss even though we had another boom down the road.

Can we afford another loss which will result from cuts or layoffs (adjustments)? I don’t think so. The deficit will be less if we vote to override the recent budget deficit. The cost in taxes as a possible way of reducing this deficit is not overwhelming.

The question we need to answer is how all of us can help our community. If everyone pulls together, we may be able to circumvent to some extent the problems that exist because of our state budget deficit.

If we vote for our deficit override we will be helping our community. Even though it won’t solve the problem completely, it should help to make it easier on the people who have to make budget adjustments.

Rick Hatch