Now that the Mineola School District has seen its recent bond referendum pass, there is no time for celebration. Attention is now focused on the 2006-2007school budget that will be voted on this May. Discussions are scheduled to take place at the March 16 meeting of the Mineola Board of Education, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of the Willis Avenue School.

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, who is in the midst of a campaign for governor, has identified school taxes as the number one problem facing Nassau County residents. The county executive would have little trouble finding taxpayers to agree with him. Indeed, school taxes have become the center of attention as numerous residents have repeatedly said that the community cannot afford to pay anymore. In Mineola, the school district has felt the effects and its proposed 2005-2006 budget failed, causing the board of education to adopt a contingency budget. The reality is that in Mineola, a failed 2006-2007 budget could mean the elimination of the sports and music programs for the next school year.

Mineola School Board member John McGrath joined with numerous other school board members in Nassau County and County Executive Tom Suozzi in an effort to lobby state legislatures to give Nassau County more school aid. After signing a letter that will be sent to Albany, McGrath spoke about the situation in Mineola. "This is an absolute must pass budget," said McGrath about the 2006-2007 budget. "We're at risk of losing both our sports and our music programs unless we can pass this budget. Implications for future failed budgets are increased class sizes, loss of AP (Advanced Placement) classes at the high school, having to shut down a school building and who knows? If we can't pass any budgets repeatedly into the future, I don't know what we're going to do."

Suozzi has joined with school board members across Nassau County to lobby for more state aid as a way of controlling the increasing costs of school taxes. "We can't continue in this way. It's got to begin now," said the county executive about stopping the trend of the increasing tax burden on Nassau taxpayers.

Suozzi points out that Nassau schools receive only 17 percent of their school funding from state aid while the state average is 37 percent. He also pointed out that while Nassau has 7.45 percent of the students in the state, it receives only 3.89 percent.

The reason Nassau receives less state aid than the state average is Nassau high property values. Nassau homeowners may be living in houses worth $400,000 to $500,000, but the only way they see the benefit in living in a high-valued home is if the home is sold. Many planned on staying in the county and hope their children and grandchildren can stay here as well. However, the trend of increasing property taxes make that less and less likely each year.

School officials have joined together to send a letter to Albany to ask legislators to consider ensuring Nassau residents receive a proportionate return of state income tax dollars and develop a regional cost factor as part of the formula for state aid. "We need a state aid formula that more accurately and fairly returns what we on Long Island give to the state," the letter states.

It may be a while before this grass roots campaign to change the state aid formula makes any significant impact. Meanwhile in Mineola, an important budget vote is scheduled in about two months time.

In recent years, efforts have been made to cut money from the budget. McGrath points out that the board of education has cut close to $9 million over the last five years.

When the budget presentation is done at the March 16 meeting of the Mineola Board of Education, residents will see three budgets - the budget as it would be if the board kept everything in place, the budget that the board is going to recommend and the contingency budget.

If the board ends up having to adopt a contingency budget as it did for the 2005-2006 budget, millions of dollars will have to be cut from the proposed budget. "It comes down to what the community wants. Do they want a good school system or do they want low taxes? From a board's perspective, we have to make sure they [the taxpayers] are getting the most bang for the buck and we will do that. What I don't want is for us to go back to where we were 15 years ago and that's what I'm afraid of," McGrath said.

McGrath said 15 years ago, the spending was uncontrolled. However, now, he said, it is controlled. "We've made a budget that's so transparent that it wasn't even conceivable 15 years ago," he said.