The purpose of this letter is to bring to the attention of Hicksville residents a situation which could negatively impact every taxpayer in our community.

A story appeared in Newsday that dealt with the need to find alternative ways to fund public education on Long Island. Rising property values and rising assessments have created a situation whereby school taxes based on a home-value formula are spiraling out of control. Clearly, new and creative ways for funding our schools must be found.

One of the new ideas being discussed is a "more equitable redistribution of business tax revenue" among school districts. This scenario could be very detrimental for Hicksville and must never be allowed to happen.

In essence, this plan would shift school tax revenue from communities like Hicksville that have a large number of commercial businesses to other districts that do not have such a commercial base. School taxes paid on commercial property would be siphoned out of Hicksville to subsidize other school districts' budgets while our own taxes would increase to make up for the shortfall of money in our own budget.

Compared to many communities, taxes in Hicksville are fairly reasonable. This is due in large part to the number of commercial and industrial companies located here. These businesses typically occupy large buildings and land parcels and pay large sums in property and school taxes. While this helps ease our tax burden, we sacrifice some of our quality of life by having these types of businesses in our community. A drive down Duffy Avenue, West John Street, New South Road or any of the smaller commercial areas bears this out. By having these businesses here we pay a price every day in terms of traffic, litter and air, water, noise and visual pollution.

While zoning decisions were being made years ago and so many commercial businesses were landing in Hicksville, other hamlets were keeping such businesses out. Those communities made a conscious decision to maintain a higher quality of life by zoning more land for residential and retail use. There was a price to be paid for such a decision and they chose to pay it. Today, as school taxes spiral upward and these towns find themselves without the commercial tax base to cushion the burden, a Robin Hood scenario is developing.

It is incumbent upon every Hicksville taxpayer to find out more about this proposal and understand what can be done to prevent it from happening. On Thursday, May 4, Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson will be the guest speaker at the Hicksville community council's meeting. He was invited for the sole purpose of discussing this topic. Please plan to attend this meeting at the William P. Bennett Hicksville Community Center on West Carl Street starting at 7:30 p.m.

A good first step will be to make sure the elected officials from our town, county and state are aware that we are not going to allow them to let this happen to us. As taxpayers we cannot stand idly by while other towns protect their quality of life and send us the bill for it.

Dave Staton

(Editor's. Note: Dave Staton is a Trustee with the Hicksville Community Council and President of Duffy Park Civic Association)