The Westbury School District's Community Relations Office recently mailed a copy of the district's bulletin to every household within the district, advising of a proposed plan to increase spending for the 2002-2003 fiscal year. The plan would raise tax rates by 11.27 percent - nearly five times the cost of living index - at a cost of $42.45 per month or over $500 per year for the average taxpayer.

It concerns me, as it should other taxpayers in our district, that our school officials would submit such a large, onerous increase.

Anyone paying attention to what's going on around them would and should be aware of these well-publicized news items: According to federal court records more Americans filed for bankruptcy last year than ever before; last week the department of labor reported that unemployment in our nation hit an eight-year high; and Nassau County, as we all know by now, is a financial mess and has announced a nearly 20 percent tax increase.

With these national and local economic conditions as a backdrop, have local Westbury Schools officials submitted a responsible proposed spending plan? We are clearly no longer in the "booming '90s." Our economy is suffering from both the attacks of September 11 and the stock market bust of 2000-2001 (and many argue the worst of the market 'slide' is yet to come).

These continual double-digit tax rate increases will have a devastating effect on our personal wealth as well as our community's property values for a long time to come. Each registered voter in our district should mark their calendar for Tuesday, May 21, to vote on whether they can afford to spend an additional 11.27 percent, on top of the nearly 23 percent of the past two years.