By Jesse Serwer
The proposed school budget increase represents an increase of 6.9 percent for 2005-06, which is in keeping with Nassau County's average increase of 6.77 percent. As a result, a small handful of residents said the school district's burden of local taxes could end up sending them out of Rockville Centre.
Jack Talty of Denton Court said he was speaking for "50 retirees living on fixed incomes who have paid taxes for 35 to 40 years who are now forced to leave" when he urged the district to find room for additional cuts to the budget. "[Every time there is a budget increase] retirees are being told sell your house and get out," said Talty.
In the hope of illustrating for residents the math behind the mysterious numbers they get on their tax bills, the board distributed a "school tax calculation worksheet." But with home values skyrocketing due to the shifting of the tax burden from commercial properties, utilities and multiple dwellings to homeowners, and wide variations from one home to the next due to the recent reassessment of homes in Nassau County, the results are unpredictable.
"It is impossible to make sense of these tax rates," said Robert Bartels, Rockville Centre Schools superintendent for business. "All over Rockville Centre, we are seeing dramatic differences. Some people will see reductions of 5 percent, while others will see a 40 percent increase."
Residents who qualify for partial exemptions from school taxes under the School Tax Relief program (STAR) will pay an average of just under $693 - or just over 11 percent - more than they did last year, while those without STAR will pay an average of slightly more than $728, an increase of about 10 percent.
"If your home value increased by more than 20 percent, your taxes will go up more than the average," Bartels explained. "If your home value went up less than that, you should see a smaller increase. If your home value increased by less than 10 percent, you're going to actually pay less than you did last year."
But with state aid to the district virtually holding steady - operational aid is up 1.87 percent, to just over $6 million - most residents will be paying more. And that's not acceptable for seniors on a fixed income, said retiree Kathy White of Lakeview Avenue. "A lot of people on fixed incomes feel they have to sell their houses," White said. "Years ago we thought we could stay here for our whole lives, but now so many people leave prematurely."
Members of the Board of Education said that increases in the budget are largely the result of new unfunded mandates - in addition to provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, school districts are required to set aside funds for teachers' pensions - and that the district is barely maintaining its current level of services. "It pains all of us, but these are increases we have no control over," board member Lorrie Brady said. "We try as hard as we can to balance the interests of the community we are also from, where there are parents who don't want class size to go up."
The board holds an annual preliminary budget session, because the actual hearing tends to occur too late for the district to make changes in time for the budget vote. "At the budget hearing, the issue is always that there is no opportunity for changes to be made," said Superintendent Dr. William Johnson. "All [the public] can do is listen, and vote the budget down." A preliminary budget hearing allows the district an "opportunity to hear from the public after we have sent out the budget brochure to every home in Rockville Centre," Johnson said.
This year, however, no changes were made to the budget proposal agreed on by the Board of Education in March, Johnson said.
Residents will vote on the budget May 17 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at South Side High School.
Comments ? JSerwer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
