(May 22) Despite a 5% local tax increase, the state's smallest county is forced to slash its school district budget in Forest County. It is the state's smallest county in population with a student body of 600.
Programs scaled back include sports and significant personnel cuts, according to the Oil City Derrick.
Voters recently had been asked to approve an additional 8.12 percent real estate tax on top of the 5.2 percent increase already included in the proposed budget, but the proposal was rejected four-to-one in a public vote.
Loss of income from a federal program which compensated for less timber income and an elimination of state taxes on oil and gas contributed to an $864,000 budget deficit, according to the newspaper article published today. In addition, the overall school subsidy from the state was reduced.
--Chris Lareau
See related editorial: Land of Many Lawsuits
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