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Schools

Local Residents React to Two Percent School Tax Cap

Opinions divided on tax limits imposed upon NYS educational institutions.

On June 24, New York State Legislature approved a bill to cap annual school tax increases at at two percent, or at the level of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less.

School districts were already digging deep to economize due to recent State aid cuts levied by New York governor Andrew Cuomo, and hard-working citizens are still feeling the woes of a difficult economy. The new reality of the two percent tax cap, proposed some time ago, is causing a great deal of talk by local residents, both by camps for and against it.

John Galt feels that that the tax cap is something the school should have adopted itself.

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"I hope that our Board shows the necessary leadership on this issue and instantly pledges to be bound by a self imposed 2% cap proceeding forward," he said.

Amy Keyes thinks that the two percent tax cap is fair, especially if school districts tighten their belts in sensible ways.

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"I agree that there is a limit to the amount of money taxpayers can afford to contribute," she said. "I think the answer is consolidation of school districts, not lower salaries for teachers. The cost of maintaining and staffing the number of superfluous buildings would certainly make a huge dent in solving the financial problems school districts on Long Island are always facing.

Charlie Allnut claims the problems that made the tax cap a reality stem directly from what high salaries of teachers.

"Teachers today with their privilege of tenure have no accountability for the success of their students," he said. "Teachers don’t have a 'reasonable work schedule,' they have a beneficial schedule compared to the average taxpayer. It is easy enough to love a job that only requires half the average work hours for above average pay with exceptional benefits, with little or no accountability for results and complete job security."

David D'Agostino, however, said that the tax cap will cause more problems that it will solve.

"The cap is a one-size-fits-all proposal that will not work. Cutting state aid while at the same time capping the tax rate will leave many schools with huge deficits," he said.

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