Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The school funding issue has now festered for the past 30 months and counting, with the governing bodies on both sides of the house unable to compromise and make sound budgeting decisions. The discussion on category funding for the schools always rankles the entrenched elected and the special interest groups.

Actually, category funding is limited to local funds and has no impact on the state or federal allocated funds that have already been designated by category or fund site. The only requirement the board of supervisors is asking for is define the placement of the $20 million plus to the specific categories. The taxpayers should have the opportunity to see where their local taxes are being spent and for what. No child or student will be affected, but those who feel slighted always attempt to play this card as far as it will go as an intimidation ploy to get their way.

Consolidations of like departments have been proposed for the past five years, to no avail. This will reduce the taxpayers’ extended cost of having two times the cost to support two different organizations doing the same jobs, along with double procurement actions to support their same but separate needs. Other jurisdictions are now seeing the fiscal gains in outsourcing and consolidation to improve and maintain their obligations within current budget restraints with positive results.

Now is the time for both organizations to grab the lifeline and pull themselves out of the quagmire and identify the costs to educate and manage government with combined resources.

Howard Mowry

Gloucester Point, Va.