Budget Details

Beg Attention

To the Editor:

In publishing the Newtown budget many detail expenditures are gathered into a single line item. But some of these details beg attention. For instance, the salary of the superintendent of schools is $138,500 before this year’s raise, plus what I am sure is a very generous benefits package.

The salary of his assistant is $114,235 before this year’s raise, plus likewise generous benefits. This is a total of $252,735 before raises, plus two benefits packages, more than a quarter of a million dollars.

Do we really need an assistant with a six-digit salary? Perhaps the attention to such questionable expenditures as these might keep Newtown’s budget more in balance with the pocketbook of the Newtown taxpayer.

William D. Downing

19 Saw Mill Ridge Road, Newtown                                May 8, 2003