Crushing Taxes To The Editor:

"Old people and young people cannot live in Garden City." Those hard but true words continue to run through my soul and I have yet to hear an official answer to this simple question: Why can't they?

I am a member of a Nassau County committee which advocates on behalf of senior citizens. The thoughts and beliefs expressed in this letter are mine and not those of the committee.

Taxes are crushing people of every age. Yes, children should receive the best education we can afford to give them, money is a large part of the equation, but a decent family life is equally important. Financial worries put enormous strain upon families, often destroying a marriage. Taxes comprise the largest part of any family budget. Simply put, we, the cash cows, have failed to control government at every level. As a corollary we have failed to control the individual politicians, whom we elect to represent us, and their profligate spending. I repeat, we have failed. No more blather, what, if anything, will we do now?

Besides affordable education, and along with other things, children must have a roof over their heads, a meal on the table, clothes on their back and shoes on their feet. Adults also require these basic necessities of life. Dick Cheney recently disgusted me when he chided Americans for a low or zero savings rate. After taxes and normal living expenses the average, decent, hard working, non-welfare family has nothing left. Did you get that Dick? Nothing left and deeper in debt.

At this point it had been my intention to include a Suozzi inspired letter intended to be sent to Kemp Hannon and several other politicians on behalf of senior citizens and all taxpayers. The New York State budget is now a mess and I must await the finished product. However, I quote from the letter.

For every dollar sent to Albany by Nassau County residents and households, we get pennies in return. The "formula" for state aid uses property value to gauge the amount each local district receives. This is inherently unfair: Nassau County's soaring property value means property wealth no longer reflects a homeowner's ability to pay property taxes, especially for those who are retired.

We are simply demanding fairness. I do object to that sentence in the letter. Fairness is a weasel word, subject to interpretation. It does not connote matter of right. "Please, sir, I want some more."

Allow me to digress. I believe the readers are familiar with "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens and so a few lines from Chapter II.

Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery, he rose from the table, and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: Somewhat alarmed at his own temerity: "Please, sir, I want some more."

The master was a fat, healthy man but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupefied astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralyzed with wonder; the boys with fear.

"What!" said the master at length in a faint voice.

"Please, sir," replied Oliver, "I want some more."

So, did Oliver receive more gruel? The sad tale continues.

Oliver was ordered into instant confinement; and a bill was next morning pasted on the outside of the gate, offering a reward of five pounds to anybody who would take Olivier Twist off the hands of the parish.

The moral of the story to this point, never approach anyone, especially not a politician, with a beggars bowl.

On April first, April Fool's Day, Newsday carried money and percentage figures above the heading "More state aid for L.I. schools. What each district would get in estimated state aid for the 2006-07 school year." Of the 55 school districts in Nassau, Garden City ranked dead last, the change from 05-06 being .39%. Do not misread the percentage figure, it is zero point 39, not 39%. Indeed, that is thin, cold gruel.

Our School Budget vote is set for May 16. The turnout will be high with the various factions well represented. It will be a rare opportunity for taxpayers to deliver a dose of truth with perhaps, in time, a return to fiscal sanity.

In my naivete I fail to understand why of age students are allowed to vote on a taxpayer school budget matter. With all due respect, that's a weasel phrase, the opportunity for authority figures to proscelitize high school students is just too obvious.

If you don't pay, you don't play.

Edward J. Heaney

Balanced Information

To The Editor:

To quote last week's letter form Mr. Angelo DiPippo, "Well, it's budget time."

The misinformed and overzealous have begun bombarding us with their version of the facts about rising taxes in Garden City. Certainly, as a local taxpayer, I am concerned about the staggering monthly tax bill attached to my already quite significant mortgage. But according to the author of last week's letter, I need not be concerned. He seems to believe that Long Island teachers can look forward to rapidly increasing salaries thanks to our ability to trick the good people of local school districts into voting for extravagant school budgets which operate as little more than money laundering vehicles for our inflated salaries. He stated that "teachers and their comrades... expect to "con" us into voting for their usual bloated budget." And, if insulting local teachers were not enough, he insulted the citizens of the local community, referring to us as "...sheep who will automatically vote for any budget, regardless of its extravagance."

There were so many inaccuracies in last week's letter, it was difficult to choose one to address first. His most obvious incorrect assertion was that school teachers create school budgets. We do not. Neither do our unions. The budget is created by the district's chief financial administrator, in consultation with the NYS Education Department (regarding anticipated state contributions) and with the approval of the local school board. Teacher salaries are negotiated and confirmed by contract every three years, and as such are not wild-card numbers reflected in tax bills. The author does not seem to understand that many other expenses go into a school budget, including but not limited to: an increased number of federally mandated (but unfunded) academic programs, consumable learning resources for core subject areas (technology equipment and books), encore areas (art, music, physical education), sports programs, bus transportation, physical plant expenses (heat and other building utilities), grounds maintenance and so on. All of these costs rise annually, as any homeowner who pays LIPA and Keyspan bills knows! Yes, as New York State municipal employees, teachers and other school personnel receive health insurance and pension packages. Yet, we seem to be the only ones that Mr. DiPippo and his comrades don't feel deserve them. I have yet to see anyone protest against a firefighter, a police officer, a hospital worker or a sanitation worker's benefits package, and I hope I never do. I and my fellow civil servants labor in the service of our communities, and none of us is getting rich doing it. In fact, my teacher husband and I are just now confirming our summer jobs, and so are many of our "rich" teacher friends.

I am proud of the work I do every day in the school where I teach, and I am proud of the work I did to get there (a bachelor's degree, two master's degrees and a doctoral degree under way). Yes, I am compensated fairly for my education, experience, effort and successes with students. I earned it, and I continue to earn it every day. I would never presume to question the author, anyone else, as to whether or not they are worth their annual salaries. Imagine!

Yes, local property taxes increase yearly, and yes, the past few years have been particularly tough. But our recent increases reflect a specific problem which went unaddressed for decades. The former Nassau County political regime kept taxes low, but borrowing was way up. The primary reason my taxes, and yours, have increased so much in the past few years is that Nassau County reassessed all local properties so that their tax rate reflects their current marked value. This was done to raise the dollars to close a multimillion dollar budget gap which occurred after decades of Republican control of the County's finances. As a first-time homeowner as of 2002, I and others like me are paying the price for decades of artificially low taxes.

Certainly, there is plenty of blame to go around for the high cost of living on Long Island. The federal government, the state government and the local government seem to have targeted the American middle class for extermination through taxation. And yet, as I write this, I consider my surroundings, and it is hard for me to feel very sorry for myself. From the comfort of my safe, warm and attractive home, I don't need to be reminded of how lucky I am. I am thankful for our town's excellent schools, parks, libraries and shops. Its beauty, its amenities, and its citizens are a joy. I choose to view the cost of living here as an investment, rather than an expense. I am investing in my children's school system (one of the finest in the Northeastern portion of this country), in their safety and yes, in their comfort.

Neither the author, nor any other detractor of public education, can convince me that voting against a school budget is a wise investment in the value of my children's futures, or in my community. It is also not a wise investment in the value of my home, or yours. Most residents moved here precisely because the schools are well funded, well run, and effective at graduating an impressive number of competent, creative, college bound young people. These same young people will one day be running this community, and this country.

I won't tell anyone how to vote on school budget day. I respect every citizen's right to their own opinion more than that. It is the essence of a democracy to have citizens vote after considering all available facts and deciding what is right for them. I only hoped to provide some information which balanced the scales.

Cecilia Sanossian