How Council Rock Is Serving Up Tax Hikes Disguised as Deals—Now With Extra Illusion, Like a Wendy’s Value Menu Combo

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Ever wondered what happens when school administrators perform financial magic tricks with your tax dollars? Our latest episode dives deep into Council Rock School District's special budget meeting – a masterclass in misdirection where $280 million gets juggled with less transparency than a street magician's cup game.

We expose the troubling theater of modern school finance where administrators warn against trusting social media (read: public scrutiny) while presenting numbers that shift faster than quicksand. The star of this show? A 2.99% tax increase – carefully crafted to sound like a bargain while administrators simultaneously propose adding 10.3 new staff positions during what they describe as challenging financial times. It's fiscal responsibility theater at its finest.

The true highlight might be Superintendent Andy Sanko's remarkable performance – saying virtually nothing throughout a critical financial meeting while his financial administrator sweated through explanations of budget fluctuations. Meanwhile, board members performed their ritualistic objections before signaling their inevitable approval, all while struggling with basic presentation technology. The cognitive dissonance would be comical if it weren't millions in taxpayer dollars at stake.

Don't miss our breakdown of "conservative modeling" – the magical financial approach where administrators deliberately overestimate costs, underestimate revenues, and then congratulate themselves when reality proves less apocalyptic than their projections. This isn't just about one district's budget; it's about a systemic approach to public finance that prioritizes expansion over accountability and confusion over transparency. Join us May 15th for our next episode as we continue to throw light on the shadows of school finance.

• #SchoolBudgetTheater
• #TaxpayerMisdirection
• #CouncilRockUnplugged
• #FiscalIllusions
• #TransparencyNotTricks
• #MagicMathBudget
• #EducationGaslighting
• #WhereDidTheMoneyGo
• #TaxHikeTango
• #BudgetBaloney
• #PublicEducationFail
• #SchoolBoardShenanigans
• #AdminOverload
• #EducationalAccountability
• #BudgetSmokeAndMirrors
• #AndySankoSilence
• #EdFinanceExposed
• #ShadowBudget
• #TrustTheProcessTheySay
• #SocialMediaKnows

Peace, Love & God Above! :-)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, guys, and welcome to the Rock Bottom
Podcast.
The 280 million magic trick.
Now you see it.
Now you're taxed.
The May 1st 2025 special budgetmeeting breakdown.
Uh, flaming sarcasm, highstakes, mockery, mental
gymnastics, roast-a-thon andlive from the twilight zone of
school finance.
It's the Council Rock specialbudget meeting where logic takes

(00:20):
a smoke break andaccountability's been locked in
the janitor's closet since 2019.
Welcome to the truman show oftax increases, starring andy
sanko as the guy who shows upbut never logs in.
We open strong with the rollcall all-star lineup of folks
who manage millions but can'tmanage a group chat.
Bob hickey arrives with that.
I've read some of it.
Energy joe's blood sugar is lowand his attitude is lower.

(00:43):
Rosenbluth still thinks this isa spelling bee and andy andy's
buffering like a youtube videoon dial-up.
Linda stone opens the night bypunning to tony rap like it's
fourth and 30, because nothingscreams.
We've got this under control.
Like tossing the mic to the guywho probably wasn't supposed to
be here to begin with.
Ah, don't question us, peasants.
Before you see a single number,tony drops a hallmark warning
don't trust social media.

(01:04):
Oh, thank you, tony.
Next time I find a sevenmillion dollar gap in my wallet,
I'll skip the internet andmeditate on the district
pamphlets.
Meanwhile, if you bring uppublic records at the mic,
they'd look at you like you'veshown up with a loaded slingshot
and a grudge.
Transparency is like a bigfootsighting grainy, elusive and
always explained away by someonewho thinks they're smarter than
you.
Uh-oh, powerpoints in panic,half the meeting is.
I'm trying to get the slideshowto stop looking like a

(01:26):
minecraft screenshot, zoom in,enhance, nope, they need a tech
whisperer just to show a graph.
And if you blinked, you missedthe number.
If you stared, your eyes melted.
And while everyone's squinting,tony tosses out numbers like a
magician doing card tricks at afrat party.
One second, we're up, fivemillion.
Next second we're estimated todrop.
But hey, don't worry, it's fine.
Somehow they're using brand newsoftware that's somehow worse
than the Abescus that they threwaway.

(01:47):
Eww, prestige budget.
Now you see it.
Now you pay for it.
After the smoke clears, tonygoes full.
David Blaine One minute, we'reending stronger than we thought.
Next minute, oops, here comes.
Don't worry, it's all part ofconservative modeling, which, in
political speak, is we guessedand now we're praying.
They inflate their costs,shrink their expectations and
throw a party when realitydoesn't totally collapse.

(02:10):
That's not planning, that'sweather forecasting with a magic
eight ball and three cups ofcold brew Not from Duncan.
Let's address the beige elephantin the room, andy Sanko,
superintendent and certifiedchampion of strategic stillness.
This man said less than siri inairplane mode.
You could have replaced him ofa life-size cardboard cutout
holding a good luck balloon andnobody would have noticed.
While tony was up theresweating like he was defusing a

(02:30):
budget-shaped bomb, andy justvibed blank stare, soft nods,
occasionally scratching his necklike a dude waiting for a wawa
order.
Inspirational shit, yo from thesuperintendent.
Now comes the plot twist.
They want to add 10.3 newstaffers, not reduce, not
tighten.
Add, because if your house isflooding, why not buy a new
couch?
They want six literacy coaches,a part-time payroll wrangler

(02:51):
and someone to handle deliveriesbecause, get this, the last guy
is retiring and apparentlyamazon packages now require a
gps and a therapist.
This isn't staffing, it's anescape room challenge.
You need a whole new personjust to understand why another
person is retiring mid-meetingwhile filing time cards on their
deathbed.
Now the cherry on top a 2.99%tax increase, not three.
No, no, no, no, no.

(03:11):
This is a 2.99%.
Just enough to sound manageableLike it's a fucking value meal,
but unlike fries, this onelingers all year.
They're basically gaslightingyou into thinking it's a
discount and Joe, bless hisheart, comes in swinging with
I'm firm on two percent, and byfirm we mean soft serve.
Joe's gonna vote yes.
Give a speech about how hehates it, then act like it's
your fault for owning a mailbox.
They wrap up with a heartwarmingsession of we did our best,

(03:33):
while simultaneously admittingthey're not sure how any of it
adds up.
One board member thanked theadmin for what?
Using microsoft excel underpressure, everyone sat around
agreeing that the budget made nosense, then politely nodded
like it was a wedding toast.
They don't want to say no, theydon't want to cut back, they
don't want to raise taxes, butthey're doing all three.
It's like watching people in acanoe drill holes and then
applaud the water pressure.
Oh, I love that one.

(03:55):
I wrote that one myself in mysleep.
This was the Rock BottomPodcast, where we don't juggle
numbers, we throw them back atthe people who drop them.
Council Rock next time, bring astrategy that doesn't involve
hiding behind Tony and a blurryslideshow.
We'll be back May 15th.
You bring your fake optimism.
We'll bring the verbal beatdown to 2.99%.
Ah, what is this?

(04:17):
A flash sale at Walmart?
I'm DJ ESG Peace, love and Godabove and we're out Bye-bye.