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My district's increase was within the proposed tax cap target of 2% (1.97%), but still "hogged it" because if Nassau County raised taxes, they would only get 0.3%.
We still need a tax cap, with appropriate spending controls on school district unionized and high-level personnel.
I knew the teacher's union was going to pull this sh*t. Quite a few districts had the election set up so that if the budget was voted down, taxes would increase even more. So naturally, people voted yes in those districts. Now, they are putting a spin on this data as an example to Albany that people are content with their property tax increases and are against a tax cap (even though most budgets would have passed anyhow, this just adds fuel to their cause)? This contrasts sharply with what I recall was a 90% or so approval of the idea of a tax cap when it was proposed a few months back. That's one law that HAS to go into effect.
My understanding of the situation is that local school boards really only control about 10 to 20% of their budgets. People don't vote or they vote to pass the school budgets because they know that REAL change can not come from the local level, but needs to come from the state level. Voting down a school budget really does not address the real problem facing the State of NY.
I think most people understand that the high, high taxes come from funding teacher, fire, and police officer's retirement funds. Not salaries, not medical benefits, but out dated pension funds. Unlike the private sector, where companies match 0 to 6% of salary, NY State requires that local school districts fund pensions that provide almost full salaries for decades to their retired employees. This is an outdated mode of funding retirements. Pensions made sense at one time in US history, but they don't anymore. So NY as a state has mandated an outdated system. The system is broken. However, since teachers and police and fire officials are a huge voting block and would vote OUT of office any politician who wanted to truly fix the broken system by taking mandated pensions out of the equation, the system can't be fixed. Or, it can't be fixed until a huge amount of people realize that the system needs to be fixed for the betterment of all involved. Not thinking this is going to happen any time soon.
So, in summary, the system is broken. School boards can not fix the system so it is unrealistic to vote budgets down. IMHO, teacher salaries and health benfits are fine. Any teacher that has a signed contract that states they get a pension, gets a pension. However, any teacher who begins work today, needs to have a different type of contract. One that does not contain a pension, but does contain contributions to a 401K type fund. This will not help us today or even tomorrow. However, 10 to 20 years from now NY will be able to recover from the pension he$$ they have mandated themselves into. Ok, just one opinion.
Last edited by flowergarden; 05-20-2011 at 08:08 AM..
Why are you LMAO??? This is not a joke.......Taxpayers DONT want to give up local control....and are willing to pay for it....tax cap or not... I get the distinct feeling you have no idea what goes on in a school...have no children in school and are just spouting off. Back-off of our schools. Direct your frustration in a different direction; specifically at the THE TOP.
Wow, I guess you truly believe when taxes increase, it is for the benefit of the kids in school. You are exactly the kind of person who has fallen victim to the "It's for the children" brainwashing and blindly passes every school budget without looking into the facts. This is like trusting Phillip Morris Inc.'s data showing that their cigarettes really aren't bad for one's health.
...and NYEconomist, I_LOVE_LI_BUT, and everyone else who pays these insane tax increases has every d*mn right to vent their frustration. Money is being taken out of their pockets against their will and we don't like how it is being spent. If you like where it is being spent then please.....give some additional money voluntarily.
I think venting on this forum is not going to bring change soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bacci Balls
Wow, I guess you truly believe when taxes increase, it is for the benefit of the kids in school. You are exactly the kind of person who has fallen victim to the "It's for the children" brainwashing and blindly passes every school budget without looking into the facts. This is like trusting Phillip Morris Inc.'s data showing that their cigarettes really aren't bad for one's health.
...and NYEconomist, I_LOVE_LI_BUT, and everyone else who pays these insane tax increases has every d*mn right to vent their frustration. Money is being taken out of their pockets against their will and we don't like how it is being spent. If you like where it is being spent then please.....give some additional money voluntarily.
We need some initiative and build a support group to educate other fellow citizens that its no longer about kids !
Like i said before people hate this high taxes but still 95% budgets passed this year. Some had high taxes if voted down but not all. And we can't fall for this contingency budget blackmail we have to fail budgets and see what actions they take.
may be we need some input from Westbury people here to see what happens now that budget failed. What they proposed if it is fails and what actually happens may give us some insight for next year.
Last edited by formyblog; 05-20-2011 at 08:34 AM..
Reason: mistake
I knew the teacher's union was going to pull this sh*t. Quite a few districts had the election set up so that if the budget was voted down, taxes would increase even more. So naturally, people voted yes in those districts. Now, they are putting a spin on this data as an example to Albany that people are content with their property tax increases and are against a tax cap (even though most budgets would have passed anyhow, this just adds fuel to their cause)? This contrasts sharply with what I recall was a 90% or so approval of the idea of a tax cap when it was proposed a few months back. That's one law that HAS to go into effect.
For even someone like me, voting "no" was only done for effect.. because the contingency budget for our school district wasnt much lower than the actual proposed budget... so really I would have voted "yes", just because it really wouldnt make that much of a difference to fight for.
People... send exactly what you are writing here to your local politicians and to Albany. Some of you have some great points. But posting it here does NOTHING! Get it out to where it needs to be heard. It only takes 5 mins and a stamp.
People... send exactly what you are writing here to your local politicians and to Albany. Some of you have some great points. But posting it here does NOTHING! Get it out to where it needs to be heard. It only takes 5 mins and a stamp.
Unfortunately, I fear giving it to a politician will do little good as well. A majority of them take action only for the businesses/unions that put them in power and donated to their campaign -or- if a bill comes across their desk that will benefit them personally if it were to become law.
With voter turnout at < 20%, how can anyone with half a brain believe this to be true?
Then there are voters like myself who voted yes on the budget, yet still support a tax cap. The budget in my school district was under 2% (1.97%) and the contingency budget was 1.7%. I feel that my school district is actually trying to take the taxpayers into consideration, so why punish them? They did NOT do a blackmail contingency budget making it higher than the budget voted on. While they are still giving teachers yearly increases, they are NOT insane amounts. They put the budget together thoughtfully and did not slash and burn away at the kids. However, I still believe a tax cap is in order (with appropriate controls on administrator and superintendent compensation, on unions and on unfunded mandates in schools). So you can vote "yes" on the school budget and still be "for" the tax cap.
Unfortunately, I fear giving it to a politician will do little good as well. A majority of them take action only for the businesses/unions that put them in power and donated to their campaign -or- if a bill comes across their desk that will benefit them personally if it were to become law.
Actually, they also like to be "popular" among the people and to get their names in the news for things people are talking about. It wouldn't hurt to get in touch with them. I do and sometimes I get long, thoughtful letters back. An easy way to get in touch with your political representatives is to use Congress.org - Get informed, get involved. They even have a section where you put in your zip code and they will find your representatives for you (including state level) if you don't know all their names.
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I think venting on this forum is not going to bring change soon enough
