| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
By now everyone in Levittown probably realizes that the New York State budget for the 2003-2004 fiscal year recently proposed by Governor Pataki is bad news for homeowners. The governor proposes to reduce state aid to the Levittown School District by an unprecedented $5.6 million. This represents a decrease of over 15 percent in state aid to Levittown which, applied to the 2003-2004 school budget, would present an increase of about $480 more in school taxes for the average Levittown homeowner than would be the case without such a reduction in state aid. The governor claims that he "has no choice" but to make deep cuts in state aid to schools and municipalities, because the state's financial "crisis is that bad." A large part of the alleged deficit, however, is a direct consequence of the governor's refusal to eliminate or even reduce a variety of recently implemented tax breaks for New York State's wealthiest citizens and big businesses. By not requiring these individuals and corporations to share in the responsibility of restoring the deficit, the governor's budget proposal is shifting the full burden of state taxes onto the local homeowner/taxpayer. Additionally, if the crisis is, indeed, "that bad" and the governor does, in fact, "have no choice," why has he not included in his list of cuts programs such as Charter Schools that he has imposed on local taxpayers and which support his political ideologies as opposed to the common good? The only thing that can save New York State from catastrophe in this case is united and immediate action on the part of our elected state officials. In this critical budget session, our state Assemblypersons and state Senators must enact legislation that includes the six points below. In order to do this, your state legislators need your support, and need to hear from you, immediately. A short note or a phone call may save you hundreds of dollars on your next year's school and county tax bills. Do it now! Say you are a taxpayer. Say you vote. Say you want these six points enacted into law immediately: a) no reductions, whatsoever, in state aid to any local school district; b) the repeal of high-end individual and business tax breaks implemented during the past eight years; c) the addition of a modest surcharge for the state's wealthiest citizens and most profitable corporations; d) the repeal of state-mandated programs that are paid by local taxes; e) the elimination of programs imposed on local taxpayers that support political ideologies rather than the common good (such as charter schools); and f) no reductions in other state aid to local governments (counties and towns) that would in any way impact on local property taxes. State legislators representing the Levittown School District are as follows:
|
An Official Newspaper of the
LongIsland.Com Internet Community
|
antonnews.com home | Email the
Levittown Tribune|
Copyright ©2003 Anton Community Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.