A lot is being written about debt and the many ways consumers are dealing with the record amount of debt in their daily lives. Today I want to talk about debt consolidation.
Ever since the Real Estate boom got underway in the early 2,000’s that bubble was fueled by artificially low interest rates, lax lending practices, predatory lending practices and skyrocketing housing values that made every homeowner feel a lot wealthier than he really was. Many took to the practice of using their homes as their personal ATM Machine.
Whenever the credit card debt got too large and the car payments became too restricting they would go to their Mortgage Lender and do a cash out refinance of their existing Mortgage, taking out an additional $50,000, $100,000 even $250,000 to clear up the debt and perhaps take a nice vacation.
Well with the bursting of the Real Estate bubble that option has been taken off the table. Many, many homeowners are finding themselves owing more to the bank than their homes are worth! Not only that, they have run up their credit cards again with no easy way to pay them off. The old way of debt consolidation is gone forever.
Dave Ramsey preaches of the debt Snowball method, this method attacks the highest interest debt first then when it is paid off you go to the next debt and use all your extra resources to get that paid off and so on down the line. The problem with this method is that it takes discipline and you must sacrifice to be successful.
A relatively new method of debt consolidation that is sweeping the nation are the Software driven Mortgage Acceleration Systems. These programs help people pay off their mortgages and debts in a fraction of the time, without refinancing (which is becoming harder every day), without making extra payments and with little change to their household budget.
Homeowners and even people that have a lot of consumer debt, student loans and car loans can qualify for these programs as long as they earn a little more than they spend. The programs guide people financially like a GPS System guides people to their destination.
Mortgage debt and consumer debt are increasingly taking their toll on the American people. It is everyone's responsibility to become more frugal and start living within their means and to think outside the box to find solutions to eliminate their debts quickly. As Einstein once said: INSANITY is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results!.
Source
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Education cuts hit local programs
MONMOUTH — Decisions made Tuesday by the State Board of Education will have long-lasting repercussions locally.
Warren, Mercer and Henderson County Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools Bob Gound attended the meeting where the state board approved a budget $180 million less than last year's.
"The cuts will be felt by our office and the schools in our region," he said. "At least at this point we know what the budget is going to be. We know where we stand and can start to make plans."
The biggest line item cut comes out of early childhood education — programs aimed at preschool aged children — which was cut by about 33 percent, or $123 million. Earlier this year, the United school board had to eliminate one of its early childhood education classes because of the uncertainty of the funding situation.
"For us locally, $100,000 has to be cut from the early childhood education budget," Gound said. "We're working to craft a budget that's going to allow us to continue to serve the children of the area. We'll have to be creative."
It is still unclear how some cuts made by the State Board of Education Tuesday, such as a 50 percent reduction for truancy prevention services, will be administered. Each program across the state could see a 50 percent cut — or programs in "trouble" areas could be maintained while other areas see the program cut completely.
However, while it was not official, Gound said he did expect the PASS school to see a 33 percent cut of $26,000, which could lead to service cuts, specifically in the adult education program.
"The last thing we want to do is reduce the number of students able to be served. We'll look at areas we can cut back without eliminating programs," he said.
Other programs that are seeing 33 percent cuts include the principal and teacher mentoring programs. A program to support schools that failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress as part of No Child Left Behind was cut 50 percent.
Thus far, the Regional Office of Education is not looking to eliminate staff.
"We're not ready to make cuts today. I hope that I can say that a month from now," Gound said. "I think we absolutely have to be planning for the future. ... One of the overarching themes (of the State Board of Education meeting) was this year's budget is bad, but next year's budget is worse."
Local school districts will see some immediate ramifications from the cuts in smaller ways, such as the elimination of the textbook loan program that allowed schools to replace textbooks more frequently.
However, new Monmouth-Roseville Superintendent Paul Woehlke said the state's 2011 budget is the one that will really affect local school districts. Because staff members are laid off in March through a process called Reduction In Force, even if there is not money for a program there is little the school can do until then.
"There's not that much we can do to cut staff at this point. Most of the cost of programs is salary and benefits, so there's not a lot we can do to react at this point," Woehlke said.
Taking over this month after serving as the Galesburg school district's finance director, Woehlke said he was optimistic the state would address school funding — until mid-July rolled around.
"Now, with the governor pulling the tax increase off the table until January, legislators will be in election mode. If it's not going to happen in the odd years, I don't know when it's ever going to happen," he said. "We are putting at risk the education of our children and, therefore, their ability to compete in the global economy in the future. And if they're not able to compete as well and maintain their standard of living in the future, who is going to pay for social security, medicaid benefits my generation have earned? Their generation won't be able to maintain standard of living we've enjoyed."
Source
Warren, Mercer and Henderson County Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools Bob Gound attended the meeting where the state board approved a budget $180 million less than last year's.
"The cuts will be felt by our office and the schools in our region," he said. "At least at this point we know what the budget is going to be. We know where we stand and can start to make plans."
The biggest line item cut comes out of early childhood education — programs aimed at preschool aged children — which was cut by about 33 percent, or $123 million. Earlier this year, the United school board had to eliminate one of its early childhood education classes because of the uncertainty of the funding situation.
"For us locally, $100,000 has to be cut from the early childhood education budget," Gound said. "We're working to craft a budget that's going to allow us to continue to serve the children of the area. We'll have to be creative."
It is still unclear how some cuts made by the State Board of Education Tuesday, such as a 50 percent reduction for truancy prevention services, will be administered. Each program across the state could see a 50 percent cut — or programs in "trouble" areas could be maintained while other areas see the program cut completely.
However, while it was not official, Gound said he did expect the PASS school to see a 33 percent cut of $26,000, which could lead to service cuts, specifically in the adult education program.
"The last thing we want to do is reduce the number of students able to be served. We'll look at areas we can cut back without eliminating programs," he said.
Other programs that are seeing 33 percent cuts include the principal and teacher mentoring programs. A program to support schools that failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress as part of No Child Left Behind was cut 50 percent.
Thus far, the Regional Office of Education is not looking to eliminate staff.
"We're not ready to make cuts today. I hope that I can say that a month from now," Gound said. "I think we absolutely have to be planning for the future. ... One of the overarching themes (of the State Board of Education meeting) was this year's budget is bad, but next year's budget is worse."
Local school districts will see some immediate ramifications from the cuts in smaller ways, such as the elimination of the textbook loan program that allowed schools to replace textbooks more frequently.
However, new Monmouth-Roseville Superintendent Paul Woehlke said the state's 2011 budget is the one that will really affect local school districts. Because staff members are laid off in March through a process called Reduction In Force, even if there is not money for a program there is little the school can do until then.
"There's not that much we can do to cut staff at this point. Most of the cost of programs is salary and benefits, so there's not a lot we can do to react at this point," Woehlke said.
Taking over this month after serving as the Galesburg school district's finance director, Woehlke said he was optimistic the state would address school funding — until mid-July rolled around.
"Now, with the governor pulling the tax increase off the table until January, legislators will be in election mode. If it's not going to happen in the odd years, I don't know when it's ever going to happen," he said. "We are putting at risk the education of our children and, therefore, their ability to compete in the global economy in the future. And if they're not able to compete as well and maintain their standard of living in the future, who is going to pay for social security, medicaid benefits my generation have earned? Their generation won't be able to maintain standard of living we've enjoyed."
Source
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wise superintendent presents consolidation plan to supervisors
WISE — Wise County confronting consolidation of its high schools is inevitable, School Superintendent Jeff Perry told the Board of Supervisors on Thursday. It’s just a matter of when and how.
Perry presented the Wise County School Board’s now-and-how $100 million plan to supervisors on Thursday. The other consolidation option, he said, is a failure to plan that will result in a forced, inflexible and difficult consolidation sooner rather than later.
The school board wants to close the existing six high schools and build three modern facilities to merge the student populations of Appalachia with Powell Valley in Big Stone Gap, Pound with J.J. Kelly in Wise, and St. Paul with Coeburn. Sites for the new schools chosen by the school board are behind the existing Powell Valley High School, near Wise and west of Coeburn.
Perry laid out an array of numbers and reasoning behind the school board’s planned consolidation, including potential loss of $3 million or more in state funds within the next budget cycle, ever-declining enrollment, 75 percent of the annual budget committed to wages and benefits, total school operational costs that have increased $18 million over five years from $57 million in 2003 to $75 million last year, and few options to trim costs or raise revenues.
If the $3 million state cut hits as expected, Perry said the options are to make work force reductions, close schools or cut programs. He said the smallest high schools face closure anyway, and without the consolidation plan now before supervisors, their students would attend the old larger schools regardless.
“It’s not a threat,” Perry said, but merely facing the cold, hard facts about consolidation.
Some supervisors disputed Perry’s facts, such as Ronnie Shortt of Pound. Shortt expressed skepticism the three new schools could be built for $100 million and even the $70 million Perry said the county could afford to borrow without raising taxes, even though Perry got the $70 million figure from the supervisors’ own administrative office.
The plan submitted Thursday by Perry recommends requesting proposals from contractors this month, receiving the first round of RFPs and preliminary engineering reports in September, selecting the leading proposals in October, then receiving the second round of proposals in mid-November with detailed plans, including specific costs.
The school division’s consolidation plan would award bids in December, review final designs in February 2010, and begin construction that month or March, with the new schools completed by July and ready for their first students in time for the opening day of school in 2012.
By consolidating six high schools into three new ones, the school division projects an annual operational savings of over $3.24 million that can be applied to debt service. Each new school is projected to cost about $33 million. A 20-year $33 million loan carries an annual debt service of $2.6 million, a $66 million debt would be paid back at $5.2 million a year, and a $100 million commitment would require an annual debt service of $7.9 million, Perry said.
The costs may be eased somewhat by the possibility of snaring some zero-interest federal stimulus bonds, Perry said, and pursuing other grants that contractors have been pointing out to the school division in recent months.
A construction market that has driven costs down from $200 per square foot to $150, if not better, also makes this the time to strike to save costs, he said.
The average enrollment in a Virginia high school is 1,187 students, Perry said. Even with consolidation, the three new schools would be home to fewer than 700 students at two of them and just over 500 students at another.
Perry said the time has come for Wise County to make a difficult decision because there is a need for immediate action and a need to move forward. The county made that decision in the 1950s when it consolidated nine high schools into the existing six schools “and now the mantle of responsibility (to consolidate into even fewer schools) has been laid on our shoulders,” Perry said.
Perry said there is a need to develop a vision and a future for the county to “do what is best for Wise County.”
Skepticism expressed by supervisors over the cost projections was shared by Shortt, Board Chairman Robby Robbins and Big Stone Gap’s Virginia Meador, but Perry said he didn’t pull them out of thin air.
“We have done the homework on this,” he said. “I feel very comfortable about this.”
Source
Perry presented the Wise County School Board’s now-and-how $100 million plan to supervisors on Thursday. The other consolidation option, he said, is a failure to plan that will result in a forced, inflexible and difficult consolidation sooner rather than later.
The school board wants to close the existing six high schools and build three modern facilities to merge the student populations of Appalachia with Powell Valley in Big Stone Gap, Pound with J.J. Kelly in Wise, and St. Paul with Coeburn. Sites for the new schools chosen by the school board are behind the existing Powell Valley High School, near Wise and west of Coeburn.
Perry laid out an array of numbers and reasoning behind the school board’s planned consolidation, including potential loss of $3 million or more in state funds within the next budget cycle, ever-declining enrollment, 75 percent of the annual budget committed to wages and benefits, total school operational costs that have increased $18 million over five years from $57 million in 2003 to $75 million last year, and few options to trim costs or raise revenues.
If the $3 million state cut hits as expected, Perry said the options are to make work force reductions, close schools or cut programs. He said the smallest high schools face closure anyway, and without the consolidation plan now before supervisors, their students would attend the old larger schools regardless.
“It’s not a threat,” Perry said, but merely facing the cold, hard facts about consolidation.
Some supervisors disputed Perry’s facts, such as Ronnie Shortt of Pound. Shortt expressed skepticism the three new schools could be built for $100 million and even the $70 million Perry said the county could afford to borrow without raising taxes, even though Perry got the $70 million figure from the supervisors’ own administrative office.
The plan submitted Thursday by Perry recommends requesting proposals from contractors this month, receiving the first round of RFPs and preliminary engineering reports in September, selecting the leading proposals in October, then receiving the second round of proposals in mid-November with detailed plans, including specific costs.
The school division’s consolidation plan would award bids in December, review final designs in February 2010, and begin construction that month or March, with the new schools completed by July and ready for their first students in time for the opening day of school in 2012.
By consolidating six high schools into three new ones, the school division projects an annual operational savings of over $3.24 million that can be applied to debt service. Each new school is projected to cost about $33 million. A 20-year $33 million loan carries an annual debt service of $2.6 million, a $66 million debt would be paid back at $5.2 million a year, and a $100 million commitment would require an annual debt service of $7.9 million, Perry said.
The costs may be eased somewhat by the possibility of snaring some zero-interest federal stimulus bonds, Perry said, and pursuing other grants that contractors have been pointing out to the school division in recent months.
A construction market that has driven costs down from $200 per square foot to $150, if not better, also makes this the time to strike to save costs, he said.
The average enrollment in a Virginia high school is 1,187 students, Perry said. Even with consolidation, the three new schools would be home to fewer than 700 students at two of them and just over 500 students at another.
Perry said the time has come for Wise County to make a difficult decision because there is a need for immediate action and a need to move forward. The county made that decision in the 1950s when it consolidated nine high schools into the existing six schools “and now the mantle of responsibility (to consolidate into even fewer schools) has been laid on our shoulders,” Perry said.
Perry said there is a need to develop a vision and a future for the county to “do what is best for Wise County.”
Skepticism expressed by supervisors over the cost projections was shared by Shortt, Board Chairman Robby Robbins and Big Stone Gap’s Virginia Meador, but Perry said he didn’t pull them out of thin air.
“We have done the homework on this,” he said. “I feel very comfortable about this.”
Source
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