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People who work on Wall Street arent paid directly by taxpayers through property taxes like teachers and cops are. You don't like Wall St. people, you don't have to pay their salaries. If you pay property tax on LI, you are paying for the salaries of cops and teachers.
This is a fairly niave eco-101 view of the relationship between Wall St., Banks, and government, that has little to do with reality.
People who work on Wall Street arent paid directly by taxpayers through property taxes like teachers and cops are. You don't like Wall St. people, you don't have to pay their salaries. If you pay property tax on LI, you are paying for the salaries of cops and teachers.
Excellent point. Also, not everyone on Wall St makes gazillions in bonuses and the ones who do usually got on an expensive treadmill of big name college, grad school and then many many long hours of butt-kissing and corporate toil at average pay before they rose up to a point of outrageous compensation (if they didn't get laid off). My friend is a 4th grade teacher w/ 10 years in and makes $145k for 181 days plus lifetime benefits. It is completely egregious compensation for that job by any salary estimator/calculator known to man in any other place in the world. That a Lt. in a low crime area like Nassau makes $202k is insane. Administrators making 1/2 million in a district of 6000 kids?! Custodians making over
$100k?! Show me where that is happening in the private sector!! It's sick, insulting and aggravating and unfortunately pits the taxpayer against people who they would otherwise appreciate.
The tipping point is that the unions still argue that people took these jobs with "lower wages" because of the benefits but for the past # of years, the wages have proven to be far above average compensation for the area (see examples above), skill set, hours and benefits. That is why there is so much enmity. The system is broken. You can't get anymore blood from the stone since the stone has no equity, gotten no raises (or laid off) and still sees tax increases even as values and budgets drop. My house dropped $100k, school enrollment declined and yet my school taxes went up 4.5% (to cover health and pension costs). Should I not be resentful about that? When
1000's were being laid off, teachers got 2 raises (union and step) to the tune of 7%. A 7% raise?!? That's impressive even in good times, but in bad ones?! It's spit in the face of taxpayers.
When kindergarden teachers and 5th year cops make $110k plus stellar bennies, even Wall Streeters start trying to get those jobs!! That is what it's come to!
Excellent point. Also, not everyone on Wall St makes gazillions in bonuses and the ones who do usually got on an expensive treadmill of big name college, grad school and then many many long hours of butt-kissing and corporate toil at average pay before they rose up to a point of outrageous compensation (if they didn't get laid off). My friend is a 4th grade teacher w/ 10 years in and makes $145k for 181 days plus lifetime benefits. It is completely egregious compensation for that job by any salary estimator/calculator known to man in any other place in the world. That a Lt. in a low crime area like Nassau makes $202k is insane. Administrators making 1/2 million in a district of 6000 kids?! Custodians making over
$100k?! Show me where that is happening in the private sector!! It's sick, insulting and aggravating and unfortunately pits the taxpayer against people who they would otherwise appreciate.
The tipping point is that the unions still argue that people took these jobs with "lower wages" because of the benefits but for the past # of years, the wages have proven to be far above average compensation for the area (see examples above), skill set, hours and benefits. That is why there is so much enmity. The system is broken. You can't get anymore blood from the stone since the stone has no equity, gotten no raises (or laid off) and still sees tax increases even as values and budgets drop. My house dropped $100k, school enrollment declined and yet my school taxes went up 4.5% (to cover health and pension costs). Should I not be resentful about that? When
1000's were being laid off, teachers got 2 raises (union and step) to the tune of 7%. A 7% raise?!? That's impressive even in good times, but in bad ones?! It's spit in the face of taxpayers.
When kindergarden teachers and 5th year cops make $110k plus stellar bennies, even Wall Streeters start trying to get those jobs!! That is what it's come to!
This man is beating a dead horse because it needs another beating!! Whether some people want to hear it anymore or not is irrelevant..this issue is one of the biggest affecting people on LI..it's the single biggest expense for most people after their mortgage, and they have every right to complain about it.
This man is beating a dead horse because it needs another beating!! Whether some people want to hear it anymore or not is irrelevant..this issue is one of the biggest affecting people on LI..it's the single biggest expense for most people after their mortgage, and they have every right to complain about it.
Yes D, I'm trying to beat the dead horse reasonably and without histrionics so to avoid the "oh you're just jealous" or "you made bad career choices" responses. As you said, the problem and it's negative consequences are very real.
There are so many factual errors in this post, I don't even know where to begin.
There is no teacher in Syosset making a half a million. Those are administrators.
The reason that you have to go up against so many other people to get on NC and SC PD is because of the common knowledge that Nassau police jobs are the best paying and most secure jobs you can get with a very minor amount of education. That's why 40K people apply. Despite the inherent danger of being a cop, there are 40K people who are willing to pay $100 at a chance to grab a few spots. That alone belies how wildly overcompensated the police are. It's not the reverse, as you seem to think.
In order to get a teaching job, you need to have a 4 year degree, wade through thousands of other applicants, go through multiple interviews including presenting lessons to board members and administrators. After you do get the job, the initial pay is not great, and you have to get a masters degree on your own dime. And of course as we all know, the vast majority of teaching jobs are reserved for the relatives and friends of board members and administrators, so good luck if you don't have a connection. It took my wife 5 years of subbing and doing leave replacements to finally get a full time job..and she only got it because the principal at one school referred her to the principal of another, because she knew this kid was too good not to have a job. Meanwhile, there were 22 year olds fresh out of college with no experience getting hired because they had connections.
However, as with the police, a lot of people want to get these jobs because the end result is a secure, well paying job with a great pension, so they'll keep trying.
The bottom line is that both fields are getting paid too much on taxpayers dime. In my opinion, they both need to have their overall comp reduced by about 15-20% across the board. And I'm married to a teacher.
The taxpayer can't let fear mongering by the public unions deter them from what needs to happen.
I see what you mean. well I'm going to call and tell then if they need someone ill do it for $100k with all the benefits and they don't have to give me any raise above that.
Yes D, I'm trying to beat the dead horse reasonably and without histrionics so to avoid the "oh you're just jealous" or "you made bad career choices" responses. As you said, the problem and it's negative consequences are very real.
Yeah, now you're the one being naive. There aren't that many arrows in certain peoples quivers, 'goose.
First, my tax dollars bailed them all out. They held the well-being of my economy ransom until the feds gave them trillions. Your memory is very short. Then, they acted offended when the Obama administration wanted to put limits on the compensation of CEOs who ran their investment firms into the ground.
Second, the system is rigged so that it grinds to a halt unless Wall Street gets what it wants. It may not be able to directly tax me, but it takes a cut of everything I earn.
Third, Wall Street is finding to allow people to convert SS contributions to private securities investments. They, of course, would get paid for this. As such, they would be converting money sent to the government to money paying for their yachts.
Stop being fooled. No teacher did any of this to me. And at least I get something out of their service. See if a worthless market analyst would be willing to save your baby if your house burned down. They were to busy writing small print into your home insurance policy to make sure you don't get to have your house rebuilt.
This unfortunately doesn't have much to do with $140K/year gym teachers who's salary comes directly from my pockets.
This is a fairly niave eco-101 view of the relationship between Wall St., Banks, and government, that has little to do with reality.
Yes, but sometimes i'm too lazy to write everything I feel. Trust me, I fully understand what is going on.
There is no direct correlation between high property taxes on LI as it relates to teacher's and cops salaries and Wall St salaries. That was pretty much my point.
I personally don't have a problem with paying decent wages to police OR teachers. In the majority of the cases, these individuals provide a public service (at public expense) of a role I personally wouldn't - or more aptly COULDN'T - do. People who have a gift for teaching, who love their profession, who enjoy interacting with kids and seeing them succeed SHOULD receive a good wage. The same for the cop who goes out of his/her way to ensure public safety and is able to convey the belief that because he/she is out there, we are all safer in our homes and neighborhoods.
What taxpayers DO object to, however, are the abundance of mid to high level management all earning salaries and pensions that most of us just cannot wrap our heads around. We are given no logical explanations as to how many school superintendents are actually required and what precisely they do. How many of their roles overlap? How many support staff to aid these people? Further, when a teacher is found to be lacking in either control of their classroom, or having the correct skill set, or allowing kids to simply pass grades - these teachers are not immediately fired - as they would be in the private sector for poor performance. Instead, they are placed in the infamous rubber rooms where we continue to pay their salary and pension benefits. It's frustrating as a taxpayer to have a union protect these type of employees and expect us to continue to pay the cost.
As for the police - again - there is not much to beef about regarding the normal beat cops. What taxpayers get angry about are the number of politically placed, high paying jobs being handed out without the public's approval. How many assistant commissioners do we need? How much staff do they require? Personally, I would prefer that the salaries for these politically placed positions be thrown back at the normal beat cop in terms of improved training and equipment.
Unfortunately, so much of the ire at what taxpayers are required to pay is directed at teachers and cops - when in reality, our anger and frustration is really directed at the unions that these teachers and cops are members of. And for the record, I was fed, housed, clothed and educated by two Teamster parents. I have never in my life crossed a picket line (it's just in-bred). But the original founders of the worker's unions in this country would be spinning in their graves if they saw what a corrupt gravy train unions have now become. What a shame. What a perfect example of sheer human greed getting in the way of a wonderful ideal and marring its reputation and purpose for generations to come.
Beautifully said.
As seems to be the way of things these days, just in general in the U.S., the ones at the top gain disproportionately when you consider their contributions, and they do it on the backs of the rank and file at the bottom. It happens within the unions, too.
This thread topic has been discussed so many times how teachers, cops, etc. make too much money on Long Island and it's hurting our wallets.
It's a simple fact why, COL on Long Island is extremely expensive. Government jobs adjust their salaries according to COL. The reason why teachers get paid much less in places like North Carolina or Las Vegas is because the COL is much lower.
I say stop complaining about the taxes. If you're complaining how taxes and the cost of amenities are so high then Long Island and move some place where the COL is much more reasonable.
Bottom line, Long Island is one of those places in the United States where it's a nice place to live as long as you can afford it. You will most likely not be comfortable on Long Island if you make at minimum $70-90K and $100K+ for families these days.
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