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Deer Park School District should have returned funding for new roof to taxpayers When government entities make a commitment to the public, there is a tremendous responsibility and moral obligation to maintain the faith. Such was not the case recently when the Deer Park School District decided not to return $1 million the public approved last spring for repairing the roof at the JFK intermediate school. The roof collapsed suddenly in March and the district needed to act quickly and have it repaired. The district was not sure at the time it was putting together the budget for the coming year whether the contractor who did the work initially would honor the warranty. In what was a prudent move, the district added $1 million to the budget to cover the costs, advising the public that if the district was reimbursed for the work, it would return the money. In fact, the company did honor the warranty, and the repairs cost the district nothing. However, instead of reducing the tax levy by $1 million- that portion of the school budget that real property taxpayers in the district pay- it decided to collect and hold on to those funds during the 2007-08 school year. It could have reduced the tax levy instead, returning those monies to the taxpayers in the form of a lower tax rate, but the decision by the school board was to set it aside for future projects. Specifically, the district said the money will go toward paying for other emergency capital repairs should they arise in the coming year. In the event those emergencies don't arise, district officials said they will pass along the $1 million next year by reducing the tax levy. We believe the district had no right to collect these funds when they were not needed for the purpose proposed. If it needed money for emergencies, it should have told the public that in May when it was formulating the budget. The move smacks of the kind of bait and switch tactics that cause serious public mistrust and it should have been avoided.
The Beacon invites readers to present their views, ideas and issues. Please submit letters to the editor to us at 65 Deer Park Avenue, Babylon, NY 11702. Letters should be signed and include a daytime telephone number for verification purposes only. We do not accept personal thank you notes, political endorsements or anonymous letters, but will, under some circumstances withhold the name of a writer upon request.
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