Dear Editor;

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy seems to have the answer to school property taxes: hold the tax rate increase to 4%, freeze Suffolk taxes for seniors when school budgets are defeated, and elect school superintendents.

But my favorite is his suggestion for school districts

seek other revenues in order to hold the tax rate increase at 4%. As a former school board member, I would be most interested in discovering where school districts could find the revenues he suggested they use to offset increases in the expenses which, he acknowledges, are out of their control: pensions, health insurance, social security, etc. (“Politics and the Schoolhouse,” New York Times, Feb. 5, 2006) I’m sure school districts would greatly appreciate access to those revenues to hold their tax rate increase to 4%; districts don’t want to raise taxes.

I don’t expect the revenues to be forthcoming from our federal or state governments.

Check the latest headlines on President Bush’s proposed budget. The federal government continues to slash Title I funds and has forfeited on its commitment to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Act (funds for special education). The funding is approximately 19%, less than half the 40% that was committed with the legislation in 1975.

State aid to schools does not reflect the cost of doing business on Long Island, which is typically 150%

the state average. Nor has state aid kept pace with the rising costs that are out of districts’ control. Indeed, the state’s portion of school districts’ operating expenses has slipped from 50% to approximately 37% state-wide in the past 20 years. It averages less than 30% on Long Island.

Law prohibits school districts from saving money for a rainy day. New York State restricts districts to a 2% fund balance, and districts must annually borrow money with interest because the greatest portion of their revenues is not received until spring. The fiscal year begins July 1st.

School districts don’t set the tax rate; they determine the tax levy. The assessed value (tax base) is a vital equation in determining the tax rate. The assessed value of the property in school districts historically lags behind in accounting for new homes. The children from those homes are in school long before the homes are on the tax roles. The Town computes assessments after districts go to the voters. Districts must do their best to guess the tax rate, which is even more difficult in years when the State fails to pass a budget on time.

Nevertheless, the County Executive, the Governor and many of our other elected officials are jumping on the political band wagon with gimmicks to “fix school property taxes,” without bearing the responsibility for actually addressing a workable solution to fund schools.

The $400 tax rebate the Governor has designated to entice voters to reject their school budgets would be better spent as a state aid appropriation, distributed to school districts according to an equitable state aid formula. And I am curious about the details of Mr. Levy’s companion gimmick to freeze seniors’ county taxes in school districts with no more than a 4% tax rate increase. Will other homeowners, whose circumstances may be no better than the seniors’, make up the difference for those frozen taxes?

May I offer my solution for public school funding?

Make public education the number one priority of our state and federal governments; not political fodder. Recognize public education as being crucial to securing our nation’s future and fund it appropriately, with corresponding fiscal accountability on the schools’ part. Move away from regressive property taxes and develop an equitable system of funding that provides for the needs of every child in New York State and the nation. Hold our elected officials responsible for more than rhetoric so that they meet their obligation to fix school funding. That, Mr. Levy, may actually fix property taxes.

Myra Vaughn, Manorville

Mrs. Vaughn served on the Eastport Board of Education from 1992 – 2004, which included the years of restructuring for the merger with South Manor School District in January 2004. She retired from school board service in June of 2004.