THE CONWAY DAILY SUN, Wednesday, April 13, 2011— Page 7
LETTERS
Delegation lowered taxes using half the county reserves To the editor: On March 31 the Carroll County delegation approved a budget that will slightly lower the county tax rate for 2011 and that appears to be balanced. Appearances are deceiving. (The analysis which follows is complex but important in understanding a large part (over 10 percent) of the county budget. It is an analysis that our representatives should have understood, but clearly did not.) The Carroll County budget adopted for 2011 contains an expenditure budget line, labeled “DEA S,” for $3,200,000, reduced from the commissioners’ original recommendation of $3,590,505. A reduction of this size (over 10 percent) in this budget line is almost certainly an illusion. As was noted in the delegation’s discussion of this item, the county has little control over expenditures in the “DEAS” line. The dollars in this budget line pay the county’s share of costs for county residents who require a nursing-home level of care and are Medicaid-eligible. The state periodically calculates the cost of care and bills the county for its share. If, when billed, the county doesn’t pay its share of the cost, it faces stiff fi nancial penalties. The commissioners use the best information available to them to estimate what the bills will total over the year, i.e. how much should be budgeted in the “DEAS” line. The delegation reduced the line, nonetheless, apparently prompted by the fact that in 2010 actual expenditures had been substantially less than was budgeted. What was never brought into discussion was another fact, that the state matches dollars from the “DEAS” line with dollars from the federal government and uses the total to pay the nursing homes or home health care providers who give the required care. Beginning in late 2008, the federal government temporarily increased its match to the “DEAS” dollars, so the county had to pay out fewer of these dollars. When the 2010 county budget was fi nalized it was anticipated that the more generous federal match would end midway through the year. However, the federal government extended the more generous match through the end of 2010, so the county paid less than anticipated (which is why the actual expenditures on the “DEAS” line in 2010 were less than the budgeted amount). The more generous federal match continues through June 30, 2011, but for the rest of 2011 the county will be paying its traditional share. This, and the gradually increasing number of county resi-
dents eligible for nursing-home level care through “DEAS” dollars, are why the commissioners’ 2011 “DEAS” estimate had to be substantially larger than 2010 expenditures. By failing to take into account the changes in the federal match to the “DEAS” dollars the delegation has produced a budget that is at least $390,000 out of balance. Delegation members, in voting for HB1 and HB2, the state budget bills, may have put the county further in the hole. New Hampshire has taxed providers to produce a fund, for which it claims federal matching dollars, to improve medical quality. These “medical quality improvement” funds are then distributed to the nursing homes that paid the tax. However, HB2 contains a provision that would allow 25 per cent of these funds to be taken from the nursing homes and used to pay other providers of long term care. This helps the state to balance its budget, but it will reduce payment to our nursing home by about $125,000 from July through December. If left in place, this provision will push the anticipated budget gap for Carroll County to approximately $515,000. The anticipated budget shortfall will probably not affect Carroll County tax payers this year if county workers are able to hold expenditures below budget and achieve revenues above budget to equal the shortfall. In the recent past the commissioners have been able to return over a million dollars each year to the county treasury, used to build up county reserves and to hold down taxes in the next year. There will be $515,000 less available in carryover at the end of 2011, so taxes in 2012 will be correspondingly higher. In addition, since the county will pay at its traditional match for all of 2012, we can already project a best estimate for the “DEAS” budget line will be up around $900,000 from over what was budgeted in 2011, and the lost revenue dollars from the medical quality equipment fund will be $250,000 (a full year’s worth). Thus in 2012 these two items will require over a million new dollars to be budgeted, just when the year-to-year carryover will be reduced by $515,000. The all-Republican county delegation has managed to lower county taxes for 2011, mostly by using about half of the county’s reserves. Unfortunately, their self-deception and failure to pay attention have guaranteed substantially higher county taxes for 2012 and beyond. Bob Bridgham Eaton
The Republican 2012 budget plan is an outrage To the editor: “I’ve Got Mine. You’re on Your Own. Vote Republican.” That’s the perfect bumper sticker summarizing the Republican 2012 budget proposal. Here’s their plan in a nutshell. Cut taxes $4 billion for the highest earners and corporations. Literally abolish Medicare and defund Medicare signifi cantly. Don’t touch defense spending or tax breaks for oil companies. In a nut-
shell, this makes the richest even richer while abandoning the neediest. It’s Republican core philosophy unclothed! It’s shameful; and, no matter what your political leaning, you have to see that this is no way to make a better, more just America. These clowns have no place in national politics! Art Micallef Bartlett
How can you include neighbors living with autism? To the editor: My children have no outwardly discernible physical disabilities. They are incredibly caring, loving, smart and intelligent. From the outside they look normal, typical even. Then as you continue to watch you start to notice, they have a favorite topic that they focus on to the exclusion of others, they don’t tend to make eye contact, in loud crowded places they appear to be physically uncomfortable, they don’t pick up on body language or other nonverbal cues and one has an audible speech delay. You realize they are just a bit different from their peers. They are just two of the many faces of autism. Current estimates of autism in the population are 1 in 110 among both sexes and 1 in 70 for boys and the numbers are growing. For the Mount Washington Valley that translates to hundreds of people in our small community who have this “invisible” life long neurological disability. Autism is a spectrum of levels of disability. Some are profoundly disabled. Others are very high functioning and with proper supports can integrate to be successful contributing members of society. Regardless of what you have read or heard there is no one known cause of autism — yet. Your children can’t catch it from another child with it. It is not caused by bad parenting and children with it won’t be cured by a good spanking or more discipline. Most children with autism live with a level of structure, routine and discipline beyond what you could imagine just to function at the basic level they do in our society. Research is ongoing and many tantalizing clues have been found in the last few years that point to multiple potential causes to autism including genetics. Treatment options are varied and beyond behavioral therapy, no one treatment option in generally accepted or works for all or even most with autism. There is no cure for autism regardless of what some celebrities may claim, only treatment to help ease the symptoms of autism. Signs of autism can include delayed or absent speech, lack of eye contact, repetitive motions, hyper focus on a subject, extreme sensitivity to stimuli such as sounds, fl uorescent lights, smell and touch, and lastly social impairment. Many are diagnosed between the ages of 2 and 5, but some may not be diagnosed until well into adulthood if they are high functioning. Many with autism can lead successful lives contributing to their commu-
nity. One only has to look to the story of Temple Grandin, PhD to see how successful those with autism can be. Einstein is commonly thought to probably have had a high functioning form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Their attention to detail and ability to hyper focus can be significant bonus in jobs requiring extra attention to detail. As researchers their one-track focus is unparalleled in the neurotypical community. Unfortunately we as a society have a history of ostracizing or ignoring those who are “different” or not just like “us.” Currently our community has very little in the way of programs to support individuals with autism locally. To even obtain a proper diagnosis of autism requires the services of pediatric neurologist of which this community has none who practice locally. Our local children’s programs through the school system, community centers and other outlets have no real capability or capacity to accept children with this disability. Life for families and individuals with autism is diffi cult and isolating. Rather than deal with the stares, rude comments, etc when autism manifests itself due to many places in public being over stimulating to a person with autism we often tend to choose to not socialize or participate. Living with autism doesn’t have to be this way and it shouldn’t be this way. Understanding and acceptance are very much needed locally and nationally so those with autism and those who care for them can truly become part of the village that it takes to raise a child and care for our elders today. April 2 wass Light it Up Blue/ UN World Wide Autism Awareness Day, which kicked off a whole month of autism awareness events nationwide. Those with autism are just like the rest of us. They want to participate. They want to contribute. They want to be accepted for who they are. They live here too and given a chance, can contribute to what makes this valley so special. So during the month of April I’m asking our community and our local businesses to take a look around you and see what you can do to include your neighbors who happen to live with autism. For more information on autism and how you can help, two very good websites are www.autismspeaks. com and www.autism-society.org. Come and help solve the puzzle! Dawn James Conway
Do both of these scenarios sound nonsensical? To the editor: So what happens to Mr. and Mrs. Average American looking to send their child to college and the government announces a college tax credit of $5,000? This sounds like something Mr. Obama would propose so all his sycophantic supporters would swoon with pride and start cheering “Yes we Can!” I can see it all now. But what actually happens is the tuition bill for Mr. and Mrs. average American? It’s mysteriously raised $5,000 by the college so any government credit is offset. The cost of a formal post secondary education then continues to escalate with no real outcry from the public. After all, the issue of education is owned by the Democrats. Unlike formal education, energy is
something everyone uses. It makes sense that as our population grows we use more of it and therefore need more energy. How does the government encourage the discovery of new energy sources? As with food sources, we subsidize the industry with tax breaks and incentives. This only works for the oil industry when the government who controls off shore oil leases allows those same oil companies receiving tax breaks to actually drill for oil. Do both these scenarios sound nonsensical? We may well survive an Obama administration but we won’t long survive the people who put him there. Daniel W. Roberts East Conway