When the Levittown School Budget failed on May 18, there was much discussion about why the budget failed and why the district should reduce it. In answer to this, the school board reduced the budget by $200,000, bringing the total to $99,453,314. Voters will be asked to vote on this on July 14 and if this new amount does not pass, the district will have to abide by a contingency budget of $99,051,615, passed by the board last month. On Tuesday, just eight days before the second budget vote, residents were invited to share their thoughts on the budget with the board, administration, and their fellow residents. Only two people took the opportunity to be heard.

Vaguely reminiscent of the final budget hearing in May, when no residents spoke, only Patricia Stillwaggon and James Ward took the opportunity to share their thoughts with the few people who gathered at the Budget Hearing/Reorganizational Meeting.

Stillwaggon spoke about being disturbed by the postcards that were sent out to residents about the differences in the contingency budget and the budget to be voted upon on July 14. She stated, Úquot;I found it very insulting that the board of education or the school district would send something saying that if we don't approve the new budget and if we only go with the contingency budget, there's only a difference of $24 a year. It fails to point out that the average increase will be $296 a year.Úquot; Stillwaggon, an accountant noted, Úquot;Those are big differences in numbers and I really believe that the taxpayers have a right to know about that. Most people don't sit down with a pen or pencil and figure out that the old budget was $60.39 and the new budget will be $66.31.Úquot;

Stillwaggon added that if the district could give the taxpayers some idea, when they vote on the current budget, what the next year's budget increase would be, then it would help the residents make a more informed decision. She spoke at a meeting following the budget defeat and told the board that they could not ask for 9-10 percent increase in the budget and on Tuesday added, Úquot;We don't get that kind of money, I don't get those kind of increases in my pay and I know that most of the people in this town don't.Úquot; Stillwaggon concluded, Úquot;I just think you have the responsibility to make the public more aware and not use scare tactics, saying, if we approve and if we don't approve what's going to happen and it's only $24 a year. I would give you the $24, I would give you the $300, if you told me that for the next three to five years we can keep a pretty steady budget, but I know you're not going to. I've lived in the district for five years and I've seen how much the taxes have gone up in five years.Úquot;

In response to Stillwaggon's statements, Dr. Herman Sirois, superintendent of the Levittown School District, stated that in the last five years the taxes have gone up less than many of the districts in Nassau County. He added that it is because they kept the tax rate at such a steady number for so long that the district has to offer the large budget increase that it is this year.

Sirois noted, Úquot;We are not trying to fool anybody, it's our job to get the information out and we do the best we can but the bottom line is that there's only two budgets out there, one is the contingency budget, which we are currently operating under, and the other is the budget we proposed for July 14. The difference between those two is the only thing that matters at this point, and that is $24.Úquot;

Following Sirois' statements, Stillwaggon tried to respond and was told to speak with the superintendent at another time, at which point she yelled from the back of the room that he had twisted her words around and, Úquot;This is why a lot of people don't come to school board meetings. We try to make ourselves heard and then you turn our words around and you don't listen to us.Úquot;

Ward asked the board for a breakdown, cost analysis of the money that residents are being asked to approve in addition to the contingent budget and when he was told that those numbers were not currently available he stated, Úquot;I just can't vote for something when I don't know what I'm voting for.Úquot;

Both Stillwaggon and Ward were encouraged to get involved in the budget process before the budget comes up for a vote by becoming a part of the citizen's advisory committee on the budget.

The budget that residents are being asked to vote on July 14 represents a tax rate increase of $5.92 per 100 assessed valuation as opposed to the the $6.15 per 100 AV in the original budget.

The Levittown School District also held their annual reorganizational meeting on Tuesday night. At that meeting they chose the board officers and made various appointments for the year.

Michael Moriarity was selected as the school board president for the 1999-2000 school year, Ronald Kinberg was selected as vice president and Diane Shapiro was chosen as the secretary for the year.