A sad state of affairs

Rockville Centre residents should be outraged. At a time when overburdened taxpayers are expecting the village and the school district to work together to save money and avoid duplication of services, we now have a situation in which they’re actually working against each other.

Despite continuing talks, they can’t seem to find common ground on any of the issues before them, including parking and garbage.

While the back-and-forth between the two entities has been making front-page news in the Herald since last spring, these are not the kinds of stories we should be reporting. The deepening rift between two taxing authorities threatens to make Rockville Centre a poster child for dysfunctional government. Residents should be ashamed of their leaders’ failure to resolve their differences. If they cannot, both taxpayers and students in this village stand to lose a great deal.

At the crux of the dispute is money, of course, and a lapsed Cooperative Agreement that actually earned the village an award from the New York State Conference of Mayors when it was forged some 20 years ago. The agreement outlined services the schools and village could share and offered a model blueprint for cooperation.

These days, the relationship between the village and the schools offers little evidence that such an agreement ever existed. The free trash pickup the village once provided the schools is no longer, and is forcing the school district to contract with a private carter rather than pay the village more for the service. To offset that new expense, the school district is threatening to run its own summer recreation program at the elementary schools — which it once let the village use for no charge for its annual summer program. A seeming tit for tat.

Parking near the high school, particularly at Fireman’s Field, has become another contentious issue, with the school district clamoring for more parking and the village ignoring the district’s pleas and instead threatening to turn the field into a municipal lot, requiring permits, to raise revenue for its upkeep. Just two weeks ago, the Fire Department joined the fracas, installing gates at Fireman's Field that stand as physical and symbolic barriers. The department’s action added to an already charged environment.

School district and village boundaries are not congruent, but the majority of Rockville Centre residents live within the school district. Forcing the schools to pay for trash service that was free only hurts taxpayers in the end. Likewise, evicting the village from the schools for the summer would compound the hurt.

Put another way, from the people’s perspective, this duplication of services may end up costing them more. It seems to us that taxpayers and their families are poorly served by the two groups sworn to look after their best interests. We’re sure both the school and village boards would defend their actions by saying they are each doing what is best for their constituents. We don’t see it that way, and we don’t think most residents do, either. The truth is that there is really only one group of constituents: the residents. An inter-governmental war highlights a misconception that both entities seem guilty of: They think they serve different masters. But they don’t. All the money they depend on comes from the same pockets.

A school district that has been nationally recognized for excellence will be diminished if this bickering continues. And property values that are directly linked to the district’s success will be affected, too.

Residents should become informed and speak up. And the cooler heads among village and school officials must prevail. The Cooperative Agreement should be renewed, and the two entities should find a way — any way — to work together to save money, face and time. Certainly our leaders — the mayor, the Board of Education president, the school superintendent and the village administrator — have more productive ways to spend their time.

The Fire Department’s concerns should be considered as well, but it, too, must understand that all parties need to work together and compromise. In a new year, the village, school district and firefighters should resolve to strive for renewed cooperation. Otherwise the escalation of threats will only wind up hurting everyone in the community.