Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "New Information and Guidance from the US Dept. of ...":
Dear editor
Please post this as a seperate post
The state assembly leader Sheldon Silver has stated that he will support a property tax cap .
If you are disgusted every year the way your school tax bill keeps skyrocketing and the school board that continues to spend our tax dollars like drunken sailors then you should call our Assemblyman , Charles Lavine at 676-0050 and tell him that you support a tax cap to stop the runaway tax bill that continues to rise uncontrollably. Do not let people use scare tactics about our school going down because the fact is that with every tax bill there are more and more of our residents that are finding it harder and harder to pay their tax bill. Now is the time to take back our schools
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It seems like the overall feeling on this blog was to vote in favor of the school budget and in support of a tax cap. Is it just my misinterpretation of what I've read or do those who voted in favor of the budget also support the tax cap? Not sure I understand the logic in this. Can someone please explain it to me?
ReplyDeleteRoughly 3,000 votes were cast for or against the budget. That is a very small minority of the eligible voters. The estimated population of Plainview is at 25,000. This would show that the voting was not a true representation of the community. Just ask your neighbors whether they are happy with their tax bill , I am sure you know the answer you will get. What the opponents of the tax cap bill will not tell you is that this bill is not modeled after California which they compare it to. The fact is that 42 states have some form of a tax cap. This would show that it does work or else plainview and the other seven states would be on the top of the national standards. The fact is that we(NY) are on the top of the list in the country for spending per student on education, yet we are far away from the #1 spot on the acedemic list. What does that mean ? that are tax dollars are not always being spent for the purpose they are being collected for , the children. If you have seen our school budget you would see some of the waste that we are spending money on and I am not talking about the teacher's salaries. One year thet I was there and the board discovered they were paying money for a picnic for a certain trade every year. I forget what trade , either steamfitters , carpenters or some other trade. They removed it from the budget . The point is they were unaware how many years that the school was paying for it . Is that responsible? another year the board noticed that we were paying for the auxillary police, even though no one could recall ever seeing the auxillary police around the school. how long were we paying for that before it was noticed. These are just some examples as to why we need a tax cap to force our school board to become fiscally responsible.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the number of voters (regardless of how they vote) is representative of only the small few that choose to vote. Putting aside those in the roughly 25,000 residents that cannot vote (underage, incapacitated, hospitalized, etc), there should be more than 3,000 coming out to cast their ballots. Unfortunately, Plainview is not the only community in America to see this sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteAll that being said, my question is still not answered. The overall feeling on this blog was to vote for both the budget and the tax cap. Are those who support the budget the same who support a tax cap? If that's the case, what is the logic in that?
The answer is that this blog is not a true representation of the community. Yes it is possible that someone who voted for the budget could also be in favor of the tax cap. The logic is irrelavant.The facts are more important that 42 other states have tax caps. If these tax caps were that detrimental to the schools then we would be with the other 7 states that do not have a tax cap in the top 8 states in the country on the acedemic scale. We are not. The fact is that New York spends the most money per pupil on education in the country . That is a huge problem that needs to be faced and the only way to stop the runaway tax bills are to put in place a tax cap that would force schools to become more fiscally responsible. This method has proven to be successful in many states.
ReplyDeleteTake them back from whom? To their great credit, the people of this community have always supported our schools, budget after budget. They have historically understood their obligation to the community's children and the relationship between maintaining a good school system and home values.
ReplyDeleteTo be sure, other state have tax caps. Those who glibly call for them have an obligation to learn what they have done to public education in those states. California is the most compelling example. Once the education leader of the nation. Now one of the worst public school systems.
So, while you are completely free to goad your elected representatives to enacting a tax cap, be prepared to live with the consequences. They aren't pretty, if you look into them.
I understand your details supporting the tax cap. Thank you for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteI did not ask the question to be convinced one way or the other. I just don't understand why someone would be in favor of the tax cap but then still vote in favor of the school budget. Is there something in that line of logic that I am missing? Whether it is irrelevant or not, it is a point of confusion for me that I am trying to clarify.
As for me, I voted against the school budget although I know that is an unpopular opinion on this blog. If costs are considered so out of control and the district considered so irresponsible with the budget why would those who support the tax cap also support the budget? I just don't understand.
Mr. Rosenfeld
ReplyDeleteYou compare the California tax cap failure to NY. The fact is that The NY tax cap proposal is not modeled after California's. Secondly , 42 states have some form of a tax cap .That being said, if tax caps are so detrimental to the education of children then NY would be in the top 8 acedmically in this country. I do not beleive that we are . The fact is that NY spends the most money per child in the country. You ask who do we take back the schools from? The answer is not so much to take them back as it is to force the school boards to become more fiscally responsible. You talk about the cosequencse of a tax cap. What about the cosequences of no tax cap ? the result will be that the taxes become so high , forcing residents to either forclose on their homes or be forced to sell . Both of which will drive home values down. I do not beleive the community as a whole has embraced the budget year after year . Much like communities across the country, too many people have become disenfranchised with the government and voting as well. So when we have 3000 out of 25000 residents voting , I would not consider that a good representation of the communitie's will. I am prepared for the consequences of a tax cap beacuse I already see the consequences of no tax cap and I do not like it.
The only tax cap that can be said to have worked in that it did not contribute to the decline of the public schools is the one in Massachusetts. That one "works" because the state stepped in and increased state aid to compensate for the loss of property tax revenue. That's not what's being proposed here. We have a loss of state aid, an income tax cut for the rich and a proposed property tax cap. If you think that works for the people of this state, good luck to us all.
ReplyDelete