Letter: Correcting the Numbers

Editor, The Friday Flyer:

In last week’s The Friday Flyer, Paul Queen wrote that our POA dues 16 years ago were $105 per month. He went on to say that if our dues increased at 5 percent per year since that time, they would now be $189 per month, an 80 percent increase.

My calculations show that if dues increased 5 percent per year for 16 years they would be $229 per month, not $189.  The current monthly dues are $234. If you add the fiscal year 2016/2017 that starts on May 1, using Paul’s 5 percent increase per year, the dues would be $241 per month. The recently approved budget for 2016/2017 calls for monthly dues of $237.

This is less than what they would be using Paul’s 5 percent per year increase formula. The reason his numbers are wrong is because he forgot to compound. Hopefully he can explain this at the next Meet the Candidates event.

David Eilers