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How common is school district re-zoning in suffolk county? I'm looking at a few houses in Huntington, and right now they are in Harborfields school district, which is a fantastic school district, but since the town is Huntington, I'm afraid at some point it might get re-zoned. What are the chances, i.e. red flags that it will get rezoned? Has this happened before? Anybody care to share the experience?
I have lived in Huntington for 30 years and do not recall ever a rezoning of school districts. However, Elwood SD #1 has flirted with merging with another district on and off for many years.
How common is school district re-zoning in suffolk county? I'm looking at a few houses in Huntington, and right now they are in Harborfields school district, which is a fantastic school district, but since the town is Huntington, I'm afraid at some point it might get re-zoned. What are the chances, i.e. red flags that it will get rezoned? Has this happened before? Anybody care to share the experience?
No chance. The school districts operate independently of the towns and district boundaries are never moved.
Won't happen until tax rates get too absorbent and schools are faced with the decision to consolidate (Which they should do anyway). No need for over 100 school districts on Long Island.
How common is school district re-zoning in suffolk county? I'm looking at a few houses in Huntington, and right now they are in Harborfields school district, which is a fantastic school district, but since the town is Huntington, I'm afraid at some point it might get re-zoned. What are the chances, i.e. red flags that it will get rezoned? Has this happened before? Anybody care to share the experience?
Your fear comes from the fact that you are viewing this as a "zoning" issue, meaning that its something that a city, town or village can itself change through some sort of local process.
There is no such thing as school zoning. Instead, public schools in NY are governed by school districts. A school district is a separate and independent municipal entity. It has finite borders and is governed by a board that is elected by residents of the district. Changing a school district's map (meaning expending or contracting two or more districts - and it would need to be at least two because you can't change one without changing another one) would be a HUGE state-level process that I personally have never seen done anywhere in the state, although I can imagine it has been done somewhere.
Also, keep in mind that because school districts are separate and independent municipal entities, they have no connection whatsoever to local towns/cities/villages. Therefore, it means absolutely nothing to the school district if some of their properties are in town x and some in town y. I know nothing about the Harborfields School District, but its almost certainly true that its board cares not one ounce that some of their properties are in Huntington, and even if they do, there is basically nothing they can do about it.
Won't happen until tax rates get too absorbent and schools are faced with the decision to consolidate (Which they should do anyway). No need for over 100 school districts on Long Island.
Consolidating school districts will only decrease school taxes in a trivial amount, if at all. Teacher and staff salaries and benefits, facilities costs, sports and activity costs, books, lunches, busing etc, are all costs that will stay exactly the same after consolidation. The only cost I can think of that will go down is administrative - having one superintendent instead of three. But for as much as these superintendents get paid, its a trivial cost compared to the entire budget.
Consolidating school districts will only decrease school taxes in a trivial amount, if at all. Teacher and staff salaries and benefits, facilities costs, sports and activity costs, books, lunches, busing etc, are all costs that will stay exactly the same after consolidation. The only cost I can think of that will go down is administrative - having one superintendent instead of three. But for as much as these superintendents get paid, its a trivial cost compared to the entire budget.
Finally someone that did the math. Take away $1m worth of salaries in a budget of $150m and not much happens.
Consolidating school districts will only decrease school taxes in a trivial amount, if at all. Teacher and staff salaries and benefits, facilities costs, sports and activity costs, books, lunches, busing etc, are all costs that will stay exactly the same after consolidation. The only cost I can think of that will go down is administrative - having one superintendent instead of three. But for as much as these superintendents get paid, its a trivial cost compared to the entire budget.
Exactly. We have high property taxes and numerous school districts. We do not have high property taxes because we have numerous school districts.
Closing one central office and firing that bloated gaggle might save a few million...but that is chicken feed in the context of a budget.
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