LEWISBORO — The Katonah-Lewisboro District Teachers’ Association has ratified an agreement on a new two-year contract with the school district to replace the contract expiring at the end of the current school year.

The school board will hold a public forum on the agreement on Jan. 6 before voting on whether to approve it on Jan. 13. The agreement covers the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years and includes very low raises for teachers.

Board of Education President Michael Gordon said the board’s goal has been to reach a fiscally responsible budget that preserves programming.

“Since so much of our budget is devoted to personnel expenses, obviously what we pay to our teachers and provide them in benefits is a significant issue,” he said.

In the first year the contract agreement calls for a 1 percent raise that is deferred to Feb. 1, 2012. Salary adjustments for education credits are also deferred until February. Teachers will also take a half-day furlough when school is not in regular session. The union will contribute to the cost of a $10,000 retirement incentive.

In the second year, a 1 percent salary increase will take effect at the beginning of the school year and another 1 percent increase on Feb. 1. Teachers will have to take a one-day furlough and contribute 13 percent to health insurance premiums, up from 11 percent.

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You know the saying, “Life’s A Picnic“, right? Well, I’m here to tell you that Blogging’s a picnic too when you have the right tools, such as this super-easy image editing tool.

One of the ways you can really make your blog posts “POP” and get some extra google seo juice running through it, is by adding some visuals. If you compare a non-image laced blog post with one that has a few strategically placed images, you’ll notice immediately how much more inviting the one that has the images is to read versus the one that doesn’t.  Does this bring us back to our picture-book days of preschool?  Maybe so.  But is it your goal to have your potential clients remain on your site and possibly even READ your blog posts?  Definitely so!

Picnik was introduced just a few short years ago and is now one of the most widely used online photo editing tools available.  There are of course both the free and paid versions, but for what you would be using it for, I would stick with the free one.

One of the tricks that Picnik is great for is bringing some dimension to your images within your blog posts.  Adding a simple shadow effect takes an image from drag to “Dang!” in an instant!

We just got a new kitten for Christmas so I have to use his pic for a demonstration!

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You can save a few hundred a month by buying discount items on Ebay or Amazon and by searching for the hottest deals. Saving a few hundred bucks a month is a ton over a year and its effects are even greater over 10 years. But what if that’s not enough? What if you need to somehow impossibly cut back your expenses like $1000-$1500 because you lost your job or your savings have depleted?

The mortgage payment is America’s single highest expense.

Honoring your word is sacred. You signed on the dotted line and said you would pay your debts. Abraham Lincoln spent 17 years paying off debt he borrowed to start a business in 1833. The virtues of repaying debt and honoring your commitments are self-evident.

However, at some point you have to acknowledge when the snowball gets irreversibly big and you have to make a decision between food and the mortgage. Most people choose the former.

I do not advocate walking away from your mortgage for the sake of it, but if you can only hang in for 3-6 months, you might have to take a close and hard look at the situation and start preparing accordingly. While you might not need a short sale, you might need to prepare for one or at least look at this option. Downsizing and renting can potentially save you thousands of dollars per month.

How do I get started on a short sale?

Just like purchasing a home, it takes time to work a short sale – in many cases, even more time. Be patient and take it one step at a time. This can often take 90-180 days, and if successful, could be well worth your time.

1. Contact your bank – before the end of the road, you want to make sure that you’ve given them notice (i.e., speed bumps). Calling 30 days before you can’t make payment might not be helpful. See if there are loan modifications or refinancing programs that might help alleviate the burden. If you can’t find a viable and durable solution, then consider short selling your home. Request a short sale package to get the process started.

2. Find a short sales agent – it pays dividends to make sure you work with a realtor that has time of the day to answer your questions and go through the process with you. A short sale requires more time, thought, and effort to execute properly to bring all the relevant parties such as buyer, seller, lender, agents, title and escrow companies. Use an agent with good follow up.

3. Third party negotiators – sometimes (although not all) sellers in a short sales employ negotiators that charge a separate fee in addition to the realtor commissions (buyer’s and seller’s agent commissions). The beauty of this for the seller is that it does not directly cost the seller anything. It ultimately comes from the bank’s funds (or proceeds). However, there are plenty of short sales in which a “third party negotiator” is employed and the listing agent shares their commission with the negotiator.

I tend to like these arrangements where the seller’s agent and negotiator split the selling agents commission. Much of the work and brain damage comes from negotiating with the bank and making sure the borrower has everything right. If the seller’s agent does not do any negotiating besides list the property below market, they don’t earn their keep. In these arrangements, the listing agent can split their commission 35/65, where the agent gets 35% and the negotiator gets 65% or 50/50, etc.

Feel free to ask your agent whether they play to employ a negotiator and what the commission split is and why. While some agents can get prickly, you have every right to know if you plan to hire the agent.

4. Pricing – some agents will deceivingly tell you to list your property at a fire-sale price. They say this will help get an offer on the price after which you can send to the bank to move the short sale process along. If the agent tells you to fire-sale the property, do not use this agent. While this may not be fraudulent or negligent behavior, it shows inexperience. All banks that approve short sales employ a valuation method often know as a broker’s price opinion (BPO). This valuation gives the bank a reference point on the value of the property and whether the short sale makes “business sense” to approve.

For example, if the contract price is $300k, but the BPO comes back at $600k the bank will likely not approve a 50% discount. However, if the BPO comes back at $350k (a 14% discount) then may approve this just to get the property out of their hair.

Time is precious. Don’t waste it on apparent solutions that will not avail. In 2009, the banks were seen approving discounts of 15% or greater for homes. In 2010, banks have gotten tighter on their discounts and are typically seen approving discounts on short sales of 7-10%.

The goal: Price realistically and close to the market. You want the deal approved so you can get rid of debt and move on.

What is a Deficiency and Why is it Important?

As part of short sale negotiations you should know whether the bank will maintain their deficiency rights. A deficiency exists when a bank receives less money than it is owed. For example, you owe $400k but the bank only received $300k. $100k is your deficiency.

In cases where the bank maintains their full deficiency rights you may want to think twice about the short sale because you are still fully responsible for the deficiency. I have cases where borrowers negotiated this out of the deal. This is highly recommended if possible.

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EPA Recommends

• Test your home for radon — it’s easy and inexpensive.
• Fix your home if your radon level is 4 picocuries per liter, or pCi/L, or higher.
• Radon levels less than 4 pCi/L still pose a risk, and in many cases may be reduced.

EPA estimates that radon causes thousands of cancer deaths in the U.S. each year.
* Radon is estimated to cause about 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year, according to EPA’s 2003 Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes (EPA 402-R-03-003). The numbers of deaths from other causes are taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2005-2006 National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Report and 2006 National Safety Council Reports.