|
April 01,
2006
The following is posted upon
request of the PTRA, please read:
March 29, 2006
OVER THE TOP AND
UNDER THE WIRE
Legislature Repels Attack on Public
Education
Whether the legislature’s last minute
agreement will lead to a timely state budget depends on whether
you’re talking to the governor’s office or legislators.
Whether their record $1.1 billion, 6.97% increase in education aid
will help hold down local tax rates may depend on where you
live. But one thing was certain in last night’s agreement on
the education portion of the state budget: Legislators heard
the concerns of school board members and were having none of the
governor’s local school governance changes. Gone was a tuition
tax credit for private and parochial education. Gone was a
dramatic increase in the number of charter schools. Gone was
the governor’s $400 marquee bounty to vote “no” on local school
budgets. And gone were the rest of the proposals intended to
encourage voter rejection of local school budgets.. NYSSBA
staff would like to thank all of you who contacted your legislators
to tell them the impact these proposals would have on your
districts.
Legislative Budget Would Provide Record Increase
Distribution an Issue
Overall, the legislature, while
cutting taxes some $4.5 billion, increases state spending nearly $2
billion above that proposed in the Executive Budget. This
raises questions of possible vetoes by Governor Pataki and
subsequent veto overrides by the Legislature. Highlights of
the Legislature’s education budget agreement include:
* An overall state aid increase
of $1.1 billion, including an operating aid increase of at least 1%
for each district. This is an overall increase in aid of
nearly 7%.
* Full restoration of Executive
Budget aid cuts to reimbursable district expenses like
transportation, BOCES and special education.
* Significant state compliance
with the Court of Appeals ruling in the facilities construction
portion of the CFE funding adequacy case, including a $2.2 billion
school construction program for high need districts and $400 million
for other districts. The plan also calls for the state to
guarantee bonding for $9.4 billion for school construction in New
York City.
* School Tax Relief (STAR)
rebate checks that will provide an additional 30% ($400 on average)
over the amount currently received by homeowners . Senior
citizens would receive an additional increase. Other tax
relief included eliminating the income tax marriage penalty, the
sales tax on shoes and clothing under $110 and adding a child tax
credit of up to $330 per child for taxpayers with children ages
4-17. Also included is an income tax credit for volunteer
firefighters and emergency personnel to replace proposed local
property tax exemptions.
* New aid categories to help
districts with high residential tax burdens relative to income and
those with high school taxes that make a strong local spending
effort per child. The first category is intended to help high
need rural districts; the second should help districts that have
significant property value, but have been faced with extraordinarily
high total school taxes.
* The Legislature includes the
Executive Budget proposal of $375 million in Sound Basic Education
aid to address the problems faced by high need districts across the
state. Details of the distribution plan have not yet been
released.
For a complete listing of state
amounts by category and actions taken by the legislature, go to
http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/comm/WAM/20060328a/education.pdf .
The following is a list of items REJECTED
in the state budget
that will be voted on by April
1st.
* Cuts to BOCES, special ed and
other reimbursable expenses.
* Private and parochial school
tax credits/vouchers of $500 per child in districts with schools in
need of improvement.
* Increasing in the number of
charter schools from 100 to 250.
* STAR rebates provided only to
those residents living in districts that limit their spending to
contingency cap levels.
* Limiting the length of terms
of school board members to 2 years
* Forcing school board members
to sign a code of ethics prohibiting use of district resources for
personal gain.
* Allowing district residents to
petition for a binding ballot proposition that would cap district
spending for three years.
* Placing county boards of
elections in charge of school voting and mandating polling
hours.
* Requiring districts to expand
the Tax Report Card to include a list of all unexpended funds over
2%, creating the impression that districts are asking for increases
while sitting on unused funds.
* Requiring that districts
report changes in the tax rate to both the proposed school budget
and a contingency budget, despite the fact that the district seldom
knowing town growth rates or equalization rates at the time notices
are mailed.
* Expanding existing
whistleblower protections that would prohibit firing whistleblowers
already facing employee discipline.
*Forcing districts to place
construction projects on the same ballot proposition as the annual
school budget vote
* Forcing school districts to
pay the cost of hearing officers in teacher discipline
cases.
* Requiring districts to prepare
a contingency budget spending plan and compare it to the proposed
district budget in materials sent to district residents.
* Shifting the cost of
pre-school special education evaluations onto school
districts.
* Forcing the amortization of
BOCES construction projects to a schedule that favored the state at
the expense of local districts.
Things Left Undone
While the state responded to NYSSBA’s
traditional concern for timeliness, adequacy and equity, some NYSSBA
priorities and proposals remain unaddressed in the legislative
agreement. They include:
* Reform of the costly and
burdensome Wicks Law.
* The Executive Budget proposal
for creation of a Blue Ribbon Commission on Pension Reform
(requested by NYSSBA).
* A retirement incentive for
school district employees. There is speculation that this
issue will be revisited at the end of the calendar year. The
timing of that incentive would not allow schools to offer an
incentive for the upcoming school fiscal year.
* BOCES aid for claims auditing
and internal auditing services .
* Reforming operating aid in a
way that expands the CFE court order to the entire
state.
NYSSBA’s VIEW
The governor and legislature have made
a significant attempt to produce a timely state budget. This
allows school districts the certainty needed for planning school
budget votes. The proposed state budget (which will be voted
upon over the next several days) begins to address the operating and
facilities problems in high need districts throughout the
state. It provides an operating aid increase for all districts
and adds new aid categories for high tax districts, regardless of
traditional wealth levels. It rejects harmful governance
proposals and adds some that are extremely beneficial, like “one
stop shopping” for energy conservation services and a $25 million
program for school energy improvements. While districts had
all reimbursable aid restored and will receive at least a token
operating aid increase, some districts will still face significant
local tax increases. This budget agreement sets a total
education aid record, (half a billion dollars above the governor’s
proposal) but the distribution of funds does not address the needs
of all districts. NYSSBA will continue to advocate for
fundamental reform of the state’s education aid formula. These
reforms include permanently addressing the problems in high need
districts, a 2% annual inflationary operating aid increase for all
districts and recognition of regional cost differences.
Under the budget agreement, taxpayers
in school districts that do not receive significant aid increases
should receive a large share of increases in the STAR PLUS
program. These increases are projected to reach nearly a
billion dollars by next year. While this will eventually
provide some relief to frustrated property taxpayers, it does little
to ward off widespread rejection of this year’s school budget
proposals. NYSSBA had advocated for STAR rebates to be
distributed in May prior to local school budget votes, rather than
immediately prior to statewide elections next fall.
Do not assume that proposals rejected
in the state budget agreement will not be considered once the budget
is passed. NYSSBA and local school board members alike should
continue to be vigilant in their advocacy. Within traditional
political constraints, the Legislature has been extremely responsive
to NYSSBA positions. Together, we must now advance NYSSBA
priorities that were not addressed in the budget and prevent harmful
proposals that may yet be considered.
NYSSBA will issue state aid runs for
individual school districts and update you on legislative voting
results as soon as they become available.
Thanks to
You!
On behalf of your NYSSBA advocacy
staff, thank you for your perseverance in demanding that the state
pay its share of school inflationary increases in a timely
manner. Our efforts were largely successful as a result of
your willingness to focus legislative attention on the impact of
proposals on your schools and the need for significant state
resources. Thank you.
Please take the time to thank your
legislators and their leaders for their responsiveness. While
there is certainly more work to be done and inequities in its
distribution, this state budget does a great deal to provide the
resources needed to educate students that have thus far been
underserved. Congratulations and best of luck in building your local
district budgets!
March 21,
2006
Call our NY State Representatives
Now!!
Let them know that Plainedge
School District
must receive more state aid!
Call everyone listed below before March
31
Follow the
script
My name is ____________________ and I am calling to
let you know I support Bill
A7702 to change the school aid
funding formula to allow for a regional cost adjustment. Nassau
County receives
the least amount of state school aid in NYS, with only 17% of our
school funding coming from the state. Nassau has more than 7% of the students in
New
York State, but is getting less
than 4% of the state aid!!
I am also requesting that Plainedge
School District
receive a special appropriation and a substantial increase in state
aid as we have no commercial property base and most of the funding
for Plainedge schools comes from the property owners. We may be property rich, but
we are cash poor!! This
is unfair and we need you to take action to help us.
Thank
you for your time and help.
We will be following the state budget process!!
Call the
following representatives:
Governor George Pataki
(518) 474-8390
Senator Joseph Bruno
Senate Majority Leader
(518) 455-3191
Assemblyman Sheldon
Silver
Speaker of the Assembly
(212) 312-1420
Assemblyman Dean Skelos
Deputy Majority Leader
(516) 766-8383
Senator Kemp Hannon
(516) 739-1700
Assemblyman Joseph S.
Saladino
(516) 844-0635
Senator Carl Marcellino
(516)
922-1811
February 28,
2006
PTRA letter writing
workshop at the Plainedge Library, Tuesday 2/28/06 from 7:30pm to
9pm
February 26,
2006
Dear Resident,
At the request of community members the Plainedge Tax Relief
Association has drafted a letter for your use in our letter writing
campaign. Please use this letter to send to All the Government
Officials listed. One letter should be sent to each
official. We are hoping that you can dedicate a small amount
of time to do this ASAP. The tax situation in Plainedge affects
everyone. Your letters will go a long way in helping our
representatives deliver our message to Albany. Only as a unified
voice will we be heard....Thank you the members of the
PTRA
Phil
Winter
2006
Dear Plainedge
Resident:
Our school taxes are too high and we must
demand more state aid for Plainedge!!
We believe we can obtain
more state aid for Plainedge if every voter in Plainedge sends the
attached letter to each one of the legislators listed.
All you have to do is sign
each letter, write your name and address, address and stamp 7
envelopes and send a copy to each of the legislators we have listed
for you.
You should receive a
response from the legislators you write to within a few weeks. When you receive a response,
we suggest you write back again. If you do not get a
response, we ask that you resend your letter indicating that you
have not heard back.
For more information, or to
download a copy of the form letter, you can go to www.plaintalkonline.com or
the Plainedge Schools website at www.plainedgeschools.org.
Thank you in advance for
your support.
Plainedge
Tax Relief Association
The
Plainedge Tax Relief Association (PTRA) has been formed by concerned
residents of Plainedge to advocate for additional school funding and
school tax relief for the Plainedge School
District.
Below is a copy of the form
letter:
February/March
2006
Governor George Pataki
Executive
Chamber
The State
Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Senator Joseph
Bruno
Senate Majority
Leader
Room 909
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY
12247
Assemblyman Sheldon
Silver
Speaker of the
Assembly
Room
932
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY
12248
Assemblyman
Dean Skelos
Deputy Majority
Leader
55 Front
Street
Rockville
Centre, NY
11570
Senator Kemp
Hannon
224 Seventh
Street
2nd
Floor
Garden
City, NY
11530
Joseph
S. Saladino
200 Boundary
Avenue
Massapequa, NY
11758
Senator
Carl Marcellino
Room
812
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY
12247
Dear
Sir:
I am writing to express
my concern over the state education funding formulas and to request
that Plainedge School
District receive an increase in state
aid.
I am requesting your
action on Bill A.7702 which would allow for a regional cost of
living adjustment to be applied to the education aid formula. Nassau County school districts only receive 17%
of their school funding from the state, while other areas of
New
York State receive an average of
37%.
Plainedge has no commercial property so the
residents have to pay 85% of the school taxes. The state aid to Plainedge
for operating costs has decreased every year in the past 6 years –
from 25.9% to 18.24% of our school budget. This means the taxpayers
have had to pay more, despite the fact that Plainedge has the lowest
per pupil expenditure in Nassau County (K-12). Plainedge’s school budget
failed in 2005 and the district is now on austerity.
This issue
is uniting our community, from Senior Citizens to young adults. We all believe the state
must make education funding equitable for all New Yorkers. We also are demanding that
the state provide for a special appropriation for high residential
districts that have little or no commercial property to alleviate
the tax burden in communities such as ours.
Thank you
for your help in this endeavor. I look forward to hearing
from you soon to tell me what you are doing on this important
issue.
Sincerely,
Print Name:
________________________________
Address:
__________________________________
Signature
of Plainedge Resident: __________________________________________
February 13, 2006
Below, a letter / information packet that
was given out at the PTRA Community meeting to help with the letter
writing campaign.
Winter 2006
Dear Plainedge Resident:
We need your help!! The
Plainedge Tax Relief Association (PTRA) has been formed by concerned
residents of Plainedge to advocate for additional school
funding/school tax relief for the Plainedge
School District
in the State Senate, State Assembly and Governor's
Office.
Plainedge has no commercial property
so we, have to pay 85% of the school taxes. Did you know that
the state aid to Plainedge for operating costs has decreased every
year in the past six years - from 25.9% to 18.24% of our school
budget? This means the taxpayers have had to pay more!
We deserve a bigger piece of the education pie!!
We believe we can obtain more state
aid for Plainedge if we all work together and write ad or call key
legislators. (A listing is attached.) We want to put
continuous pressure on those individuals in state government that
make the decisions on school funding, and we can only do it with
your help.
Attached, please find an outline of a
letter for you to write and send to any or all of the legislators
listed. We want the community to give a consistent message, so
we have given you some key facts to use. The letter should be
written from your heart and please feel free to add anything you
feel is important. The most important people to write are
Governor Pataki, Senator Bruno, and Assemblyman Sheldon in addition
to our own representatives: Assemblyman Saladino, Senator
Hannon and/or Senator Marcellino.
We ask that you try to write your
letters within the next two weeks as we want to have letters sent
every week between now and when the state budget passes. You
should receive a response from the legislators you write to within a
few weeks. When you receive a response, we suggest you write
back again. If you do not get a response, we ask that you
resend your letter indicating that you have not heard
back.
We will be holding letter-writing
workshops at the Plainedge Public Library on Friday, February 3rd
from 2:30 - 4:00 PM and Tuesday, February 28th from 7:30 - 9:00
PM. There will also be another PTRA Community Meeting on
Monday, February 13th at 7PM at Plainedge High
School.
Please know that the PTRA will likely
lead more tax relief initiatives in the months to come. We are
starting with this campaign to obtain more state aid for
Plainedge. For more information, you can go to
PlainTalkOnline.com.
Thank you in advance for your
support.
Plainedge
Tax Relief Association
A LETTER TO YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE - THE
ESSENTIALS AND GUIDE
Your Name &
Address {PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THIS}
Date
[The Official’s
information will appear here – see attached listing for
names/addresses]
The Honorable First
name Last name
123 Street
Address
City, NY, Zip
Dear [Official’s
Title and Name will be inserted here]:
Dear Senator _______:
(OR) Dear Assemblyman ________: (OR) Governor Pataki:
Paragraph 1: Say why you are
writing. State what you
are writing about.
► School taxes
in Plainedge
► Property tax
relief from school taxes in Plainedge
► State aid for
the Plainedge school district
► help for
Plainedge school district
Paragraph 2: Pick any two or more of the
following points to include:
► Plainedge has
no commercial property so the residents have to pay 85% of the
school taxes
► Plainedge has the
lowest per pupil expenditure in Nassau County (K-12)
► The State aid to Plainedge for
operating costs has decreased every year in the past 6 years – from
25.9% to 18.24% of our school budget. This means the taxpayers
have had to pay more.
► The average household in
Plainedge pays $ 6,000. in school taxes
► Standard and Poors rated
Plainedge as among the “top cost effective districts” in NYS
► New York State
School Board Association rated Plainedge “highly efficient”
as compared to other comparable schools
► Plainedge’s budget failed in
2005 and is now on austerity
► The Plainedge
community formed a grassroots organization and was successful in
raising monies to restore high school sports
Paragraph 3: Say who you are. You can include such things
as:
► I have lived in
Plainedge ________ years
► I
am:
○ a single
parent household
○ two parent working
family
○ working
two jobs to make ends meet
○ renting and concerned
my rent will be raised
○ worried
I will have to sell my house and move away
○ not a property owner,
but I live in the community and I am concerned about school taxes
○ I have
_____ number of children
○ I am a Senior Citizen
○ I own a
small business in Plainedge:
Say what it is:
○ Other
Paragraph 4: State what you want. You can pick one or two of
the following suggestions, or create your own:
► Create a special
appropriation for high residential districts that have little or no
commercial property
► Create a grant or aid
program to recognize districts that operate at low per pupil
spending while maintaining above average academic performance
► Increase the school
aid to Plainedge
Paragraph 5: Thank them for their help,
support or efforts.
Sincerely,
Your
signature
February 13,
2006
The Plainedge Tax Relief Association
(PTRA) will have a Community Meeting on Monday, February 13, 2006 at
the Plainedge High School Auditorium. The discussion will be
about how residents can help increase state aid for the Plainedge
School District, thus lowering the property tax
burden.
February 3,
2006
PTRA letter writing workshop at the Plainedge Library, Friday
2/3/06 from 2:30pm to 4pm
January 30,
2006
Plainedge
Tax Relief Association Meeting
Minutes
Participants: Craig
Heller; Anne Weeks; Jeanne
Toscano
Discussion Areas:
1.
Community Meeting: A preliminary outline of
the Community Meeting was agreed upon. The primary purpose will be
to inform the community and motivate the residents to take action,
e.g., write letters, call, etc. The agenda will be as
follows:
a.
Phil will open the
meeting and explain how PTRA was formed and its purpose and
actions. Phil will
motivate the residents to take action!!! He should include the plans
for the phone campaign in March in his overall description of our
actions.
b.
Craig will discuss the
actions being taken on the County level and incorporate some of the
information Legislator Dave Mejias spoke of at his property tax
assessment meeting to better educate the
community.
c.
Anne will speak on the
letter writing campaign, what to do, petitions, and the library
workshop.
d.
Hannon (if he accepts
our invitation) will speak on how we can best impact Albany to get
change accomplished and have them listen to
us.
Specific actions to be taken with regards to the
Community Meeting are:
a.
We
agreed with Phil’s suggestion to invite Hannon to the Community
Meeting and invite Saladino to the Friday, Feb 28 Library letter
writing workshop. Maura
or Christine should contact Hannon and
Saladino’s office to
invite them to each event.
b.
Craig will contact Dr.
Richman to request that the Community Meeting be posted on the signs
in front of the schools as well as the School Website. He will also request that
Dr. Richman send out an email.
c.
Anne and Jeanie will
coordinate to put up flyers and signs throughout the community as
well as enlist additional help to get the signs/flyers made up and
distributed. Goal is to
have them up by the end of the weekend. Places to put up
flyers/posters are:
Library, Pappalardos, Waldbaums, Pathmark, Cinos Bagels,
Carvel, etc.
d.
Anne will coordinate to
get the community meeting and library workshops posted in the local
newspapers and PlainTalkOnline. After the meeting, Anne
spoke to Lisa after the meeting and she will get the information out
to the following:
i.
Massapequa Post (Carolyn James
798-5100)
ii.
Long
Island Press (Felice Cantatore (631) 648-2500 or email = felice@longislandpress.com
iii.
Massapequa Observer (Joe
Scacci 747-8282 extension 156)
e.
Craig will email his
contact at Newsday (Joy Brown) to alert her to what we are doing as
she is writing a column on what the County is doing to address the
problem of school taxes.
f.
Anne will draft an
agenda and draft the flyers.
g.
Dr. Richman will be
invited to the Community Meeting, but we do not think it necessary
for him to speak as he will be having an educational meeting in
March and we want to be the lead in this
meeting.
2.
Letter Writing Packets/Petition Status: We continue to man tables at
the concerts/events at the schools. We need to collect the
petitions. The group
concurred that the petitions are good, but that we need to emphasis
that people must ALSO send letters, they can’t just sign the
petition and think they have done their
part.
The
group reviewed the meeting at PHS with Legislator Dave Mejias on
property tax assessment.
Anne was able to speak at the meeting (about 40-50 attendees)
about PTRA and letter writing.
We all had our picture taken (Craig, Anne, Donna with Mejias
and Jeff Gold from County Assessor office). The picture will go out to
local newspapers.
3.
School Aid Discussion (Albany): Anne reviewed the 2005-2006
school year aid and indicated that there appears to be room for the
legislators to allocate direct aid to specific school
districts/programs as $27 million was just so allocated this school
year. All agreed that
the information was extremely complex and difficult to
understand. Craig
indicated that one suggestion they are exploring in the County level
meetings/plans is to change the formula for aid distribution in the
new money allocated in the schools using cost of living, etc
indicators and the new money over time would eventually be more than
the old money. This
would avoid the need to directly take money from upstate
schools.
a.
The group reiterated
that we may want to have a small group go to meet with legislators
in Albany in March to push specific
language.
We also need to speak privately with Senator Hannon to
see what we need to be doing and the type of language that would
realistically get through.
January 10,
2006
Plainedge
Tax Relief Association Meeting
Minutes
Participants: Craig Heller; Anne Weeks; Phil Toscano;
Christine DeMarco; Christine Chernaski; Maura Roddy; Lynn Kovar;
Jeanne Toscano; Terry DuRoss
Discussion Areas:
1. Objectives/Mission of
PTRA: The group
discussed the overall objectives and determined that the initial
objective is limited to communicating with our legislators (both
County and State) in order to increase the state aid coming into the
Plainedge School
District. We should not get involved
in discussions with people about the structure of school aid, the
budget itself, etc. and stay focused on increased state aid.
The group concurred that the
Plainedge Tax Relief Association will likely be around for the long
haul, but our initial task is to focus on increasing state aid. Phil requested that the
group members think about a mission statement. This mission statement would
be the communication to the public on what we are and will do. We also have to think about
if we want to become a not-for-profit organization.
2.
PPAC (Plainedge Parents Athletic
Club): Phil indicated
that PPAC will reach out to different community groups to get them
involved in the process.
PPAC will also be involved in getting the budget passed.
3.
Long Term Tax Change
Strategies/Actions: There were
various discussions on what different groups are doing to address
the broken system of financing our school districts. Specifically:
a.
Nassau County:
Craig indicated there is a movement headed by the Nassau
County Executive Tom Suozzi to make recommendations to the state on
how to fix the system.
Craig sits on the Revenue Committee with School Board
Representatives to make recommendations on how to change the state
aid formula. He also
will be on an Ad Hoc Committee for a legislative lobby. One idea being considered is
to change the tax methodology to an income tax, which would mean
some schools would not need any state aid. Another idea is to change
the timing of the tax collection on the county level so that the
schools would be issued the tax monies earlier; reducing the amount
of money they have to borrow to meet operating expenses.
b.
State Senate Bill:
An impromptu discussion with Dr. Richman about the new bill
proposed by the State Senate occurred. Dr. Richman then visited the
meeting and provided the members with copies of the bill.
4.
Additional Committees: The group agreed that we
should form a Media Committee to be headed up by Felice Cantatore,
who is a part owner of the Long Island Press and has already
established a website for PlainTalkOnline. The group did not believe a
separate lobby committee was needed. The group determined
that we are not keen on a rally in Albany, but do see the value of
having a smaller group of Plainedge residents go to Albany and meet
with various legislators to tell our story.
5.
Recruitment Committee: Lynn and Jeanie reported
that they have a number of people who have volunteered already. They plan on having a
recruitment drive during the next community meeting. It was determined that the
Recruitment Committee gets the volunteers in the door and then the
Telephone or Letter Writing Committees are responsible for
organizing the volunteers.
The Recruitment Committee
will recruit using the following script: “We need you to help us to
change the system and get more state aid to Plainedge so our taxes
won’t increase as high as they have been in the past few years. We need your
support.”
Recruitment will contact the
PTA presidents of all the schools.
6.
Letter Writing Committee: Anne reviewed the draft plan
for the Letter Writing Campaign. The group decided on the
following modifications:
a.
Hold
letter writing meetings to be available to help residents write
letters – it was suggested to be held on a few Mondays in Jan/Feb
b.
Since
there is no funding to pay for stamps, paper, photocopies,
envelopes, etc., the plan was scaled back to NOT prepare letters for
residents, but to help them write them, give out the multiple choice
letter sample and to encourage residents to write letters “from the
heart”
c.
Tables
will be set up only at the concerts and a couple of other High
School/Middle School events.
d.
Phil will
ask Dr. Richman for the following support:
i.
To make
copies of the Multiple Choice Sample Letter and Addresses of
Legislators and Cover Letter explaining what we are doing – we
likely need about 5,000 copies of a 4 page document. Copies would be in batches
of 500/1000 in case changes to the letter/documents need to be
done
ii.
To send
home above mentioned copies to all elementary school children. We would want to stagger the
letters home for all 3 elementary schools, i.e., All
Kindergarten/First Graders in week one, all Second/Third graders in
week 2, etc. Terry
indicated that there are 525 students at West, 565 at Schwarting and
about 450 at East Plain.
iii.
To allow
Anne to make an announcement about the letter writing campaign at
each of the school concerts.
e.
A script
will be developed for volunteers to follow when soliciting residents
to write letters. A
training of the volunteers will also take place to ensure a
consistent message and empower the volunteers to be confident in
their task. Dr. Richman
will give a review of the overall school budget process in this
training.
f.
The
Education Committee and leaders should be added to the listing of
legislators to be contacted.
7.
Telephone Committee: Maura reviewed the goals of
the Telephone Committee’s goals. The group agreed that the
Telephone Committee needs to limit its focus to calling legislators
and needs to be coordinated with the Letter Writing Campaign as it
is an equally effective method to be heard. The group concurred that the
sample letter could serve as the basis for a script to be developed
for residents to use when making the phone calls. The Education Committees
should also be called.
It was agreed that the telephone calling should not begin
immediately.
8.
Community Meetings: There will be another
community meeting soon.
Notice will be sent through the schools as well as posted in
the local organizations/areas such as the library, senior centers,
etc. Phil and Craig
will determine the date.
It was noted that Kemp Hannon will be at the Plainedge Public
Library on February 7, 2006.
9.
Senior Citizens: Christine Chernaski
volunteered to reach out to the senior groups to get them
involved. Phil will
call Pete Milillo (796-7017) to see if he would be interested in
sitting on this PTRA Oversight Committee as he volunteered his help
at the Community Coffee Hour on January 5, 2006.
Next
Meeting is Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 7 pm. Phil will email
the location after speaking with Dr. Richman.
January 9,
2006 Below, a sample letter regarding State Aid,
written and sent by a concerned community
member:
January 08,
2006
Joseph S.
Saladino
Member of
Assembly
12th
Assembly District
200 Boundary
Avenue
Massapequa, NY 11758
Dear Assemblyman
Saladino:
My family needs
your help. As a
taxpayer, registered voter and homeowner in the Plainedge
School
District, we are at the point of being
taxed out of our homes.
The extreme tax
burden places a hardship on my family’s expendable income. We have become house poor as
a result. During a
recent conversation with a co-worker, I was given the “simple”
advice to move out of the neighborhood and move to Suffolk
County in an
area that is more school and property tax friendly.
My answer to my
co-worker was “I’m not leaving my home.” This is our neighborhood,
where our children were born, attend school and forging [what we
hope to be their] lifelong friends.
As an overtaxed,
overburdened homeowner, I work long hours to help maintain our
standard of living. The
extra hours mean less time for family and particularly my children,
only if I’m lucky enough to be home before they go to sleep.
Mr. Saladino, the
exact reason for my letter is that the district is in immediate need
of increased State Aid.
Plainedge faces an 85% tax burden falling directly on
residents due to a lack of commercial property. We also have seen our
current State Aid decrease annually over the past six years adding
to our extreme tax burden.
The average Plainedge household pays over $6,000. in school
tax and faces a possibility of additional increases.
Please take my
letter to the Assembly and ask for their immediate action to help
this community with increased State Aid. We simply cannot go on
increasing credit card debt and having no expendable income for our
families. We do not
want to be forced to move out of homes. We do not want be another
house with the “For Sale” sign on the front lawn, a situation
recently affecting our neighborhood.
Mr. Saladino,
please help us. Thank
you for your time and consideration
Respectfully,
Mr.
Felice Cantatore
January 9,
2006 Email sent out by The Plainedge Tax Relief
Association (PTRA) committee
members:
On
January 5, 2006, Dr. John A. Richman, Plainedge Superintendent of
Schools, hosted a meeting at John H. West Elementary School which
was attended by approximately 150 residents to discuss how the
community can obtain further state aid from Albany. Dr.
Richman provided information as to the state aid we currently
receive and how we compare to other districts. State
Assemblyman Joseph Saladino was on hand to lend his support and
provide the group with an inside look at politics in
Albany.
The main focus of the coffee hour was to gauge the
community’s interest in a campaign to apply pressure on our local
and state government for more state aid. What was agreed upon
was to attack this issue on a few fronts. To do this we needed to
organize ourselves. The Plainedge Tax Relief Association (PTRA) was
formed with volunteers from the meeting.
First and foremost
a recruitment committee was formed. This committee will be the most
critical because it will entail enlisting the help of the community
from new residents to those who have graduated children to those who
are now retired. This committee will be headed by
Jeanne
Toscano
Lynn
Kovar
Two other committees were also formed that night, a
letter writing committee headed by
Anne
Weeks
Lisa
Scholz
and
a telephone committee headed
by
Maura
Roddy
Christine
Chernaski
Christine
DeMarco
These two
committees will be responsible for the communication between our
community and government officials.
Our committees are
critical to the success of this endeavor. It will take the community
as a whole to be involved.
Two project leaders were also put
in place to oversee all activity of the committees work with the
superintendent and the school board.
Craig
Heller
Phil Toscano
We are having
our committee chair kick-off meeting the week of 1/9 to start the
ball rolling. We may be developing other committees and will
certainly need people to volunteer as heads and members. If
you have any ideas please start jotting them down. We will
have another coffee hour meeting shortly and your input is wanted
and needed.
It is vitally important that we all understand
that this is a "community" issue and we need to come together and
work as a team. Personal agendas cannot be tolerated. We are
doing this for our children and for the future children entering the
district; we are also doing it for ourselves. As home owners
and stake holders in this district, this affects our quality of
life.
We urge you to join us in this very worthy
effort.
Thank you for your time.
Phil Toscano and
Craig Heller
January 9,
2006 What do our Community Leaders do for
us
There
are two major bodies in Albany that can change the way we
are taxed for schools - The State Senate and the State
Assembly. As far as you and I are concerned, either one or
both can start the action. But it takes the two of them to
vote YES to any change - along with the Governor - to finish the
action.
There are 62 State Senators and 150 Assemblymen,
each with the ability to start a bill in motion. However, to bring a
bill into effect, it must come to a vote. The votes are held in each
house and must pass by a simple majority of those voting. Then the
Governor must sign (approve) the Bill. If he doesn't, it can
go back to each house and must be passed by a 2/3 majority to become
law.
We have one Assemblyman from our district (District 12),
Joseph Saladino R, who already has sponsored and/or supported Bills
that affect School Taxes. But any Assemblyman in the State can
do the same. The real power or action problem is that although
many have cut bills, nothing happens to them until the money is
found to fund them, and/or the popularity for a particular bill
arises due to public pressure. When one of those conditions is met,
then the bill is brought to a vote.
Joseph Saladino is on
one of the Committees in Albany that can make that happen,
the education committee. He has secured School tax changes in
the past. Presently there are 59 bills hanging out in
committees in the Assembly - only 7 are for changing tax to another
source (income, sales, etc.) Most of the bills are for narrow
secular relief (domestic partner's inclusion, over 75 abatements,
community service discounts, etc.) All are being
"Studied".
Here is a typical Assembly bill concerning
changing the tax source:
In
the other body, the Senate, there are 29 bills concerning education.
Two are by State Senator Marcellino just north of us (who is also
pushing a bill for School Tax Rebates) and 2 are by our Senator Kemp
Hanon. Both bills from each are for narrow secular relief,
none for fundamental School Funding changes. Our other
Senator, Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., has other items on his
agenda for now - although he does focus on the STAR program on
occasion. Again, like in the Assembly, the Senate
committees are "hard at work" studying these bills. In
time, some will come out of committee and by reviewed and approved
by the other house and go to where the real action is - the official
"Majority member" of the body.
In the Senate that Majority
Leader is Joe Bruno, a Republican from the upstate 43rd Senate
District. He is a member of all committees, and along with his
counterpart in the Assembly, Speaker of The Assembly Sheldon Silver
** (Democrat, 64th Assembly District, lower East Side of
Manhattan), he is known as one of three men that run Albany!
The third man is the Governor, George Pataki.
The three
together can make or break a bill. In each body, the chances
for a bill coming out of committee for action depends upon Bruno in
the Senate and Silver in the Assembly. They will respond to
public and political pressure. But if a bill does not meet
with their favor for one reason or another, we can kiss its chances
for ever passing goodbye. If they like it, or are forced to like it
by public pressure, both houses pass the bill, the Governor signs it
- and it becomes the law!
Besides passing upon legislative
proposals and constitutional amendments as the Assembly does, the
Senate confirms or rejects nominations made by the Governor for the
filling of certain State and judicial offices. It also sits at times
as a court of impeachment, and can be convened in extraordinary
session to perform either of these latter functions. The Lieutenant
Governor while not a member of the Senate, is its President and
presiding officer but, by constitutional enactment, has only a
casting vote therein. The Majority Leader is also the Temporary
President, presides in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor and is
next in line to the Lieutenant Governor in succession to the
governorship.
Our representative in the Nassau Legislation,
David Mejias, also serves on the Finance and Education
committees. He is a very vocal champion of School Tax reform.
However, like even Nassau County Executive Suozzi himself, he
can't pass Albany Laws which will make a change in the system.
He and Suozzi are on the right track however as they try to get the
School Superintendents in Nassau to act as on cohesive body to bring
coordinated public and political pressure to bear on the leaders in
both houses in Albany. This is a more powerful way to
accomplish the goal.
Ed
The following is re-typed
information handed out at the Community Coffee hour to help in
regard to lobbying for State Aid funds to reduce the impact on
homeowners individual school tax:
A Dozen Effective Tips for Lobbying
1. Always make an appointment to visit your
legislator.
2. Identify yourself and/or the organization you
represent, always mentioning the number of members
or constituents in the organization.
3. Make sure you inform the legislator that you are a
registered voter in his/her district. (However, Committee Chairs
represent your special interests, therefore you do not have to live
in their districts.)
4. If lobbying with a group, one or two persons
should speak on behalf of the group.
5. Always prepare and present two or three
points. Leave supporting documents with the legislator.
6. Get your point across in the fewest possible
words. Do not use jargon or rhetoric make it a conversation or
short discussion.
7. Give the legislator a chance to express his/her
point of view and be a good listener.
8. Don't be afraid to admit ignorance on special
points. This will give you an opportunity to find the answer
and contact the legislator again.
9. Do not argue, name call, or threaten. Leave that
to the opposition.
10. Give special recognition to the legislators who are
known to be on your side, and ask them for advice and help in
reaching other legislators.
11. Even if you are turned down, leave on a friendly note, with a
firm handshake.
12. Send a letter immediately, thanking the legislator for
his/her time and enclose information on your affiliate or the issues
you discussed.
Send your letters and Correspondence
to the New York State Government at the following
addresses:
George Pataki, Governor
(R)
Executive Chamber, The State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
518-474-8390
www.state.ny.us/governor
New York State
Senate
New York State Assembly
Joseph Bruno
(R)
Sheldon Silver (D)
Senate Majority
Leader Speaker
of the Assembly
Room 909
LOL
Room 932 LOB
Albany, NY
12247
Albany, NY 12248
518-455-3191 speaker@assembly.state.ny.us
bruno@senate.state.ny.us
Dean Skelos
(R)
Joseph S. Saladino (R)
Deputy Majority
Leader 200
Boundary Avenue
55 Front
Street
Massapequa, NY 11758
Rockville Centre, NY
11570
516-844-0635
516-766-8383
fax:
516-766-8011
skelos@senate.state.ny.us
Senator Kemp Hannon (R)
224 seventh Street, 2nd Floor
Garden City, NY 11530
516-739-1700
fax: 516-747-7430
hannon@senate.state.ny.us
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