Scarsdale 10583

It’s being called a game-changer in New York politics. Governor Andrew Cuomo has worked out a deal with Democrat and Republican state senators to cap property tax growth at 2% throughout the state. The deal still needs to be worked out in the State Assembly. There are many people in Scarsdale, as well as across the state, who say that this is bad for our schools. They took their case to Albany earlier this week.

At a press conference on Wednesday in Albany, Arthur Rublin, Chair of the Coalition for Scarsdale Schools along with Jill Spieler, President Board of Education, resident Miriam Popp Seely, as well as members of Chappaqua, Ossining, Edgemont, Eastchester, Bedford and Mt. Vernon schools laid out why they adamantly opposed this bill.

In a statement the joint coalition calls this proposal “…is a punitive, misguided approach to public concerns about property taxes. Rather than provide meaningful relief from State-imposed spending requirements… this bill continues to obligate school districts to fund top-down requirements while impairing local ability to raise revenue for essential education programs. The Cuomo/Skelos/Silver Tax cap proposal is a direct assault on the quality of your schools, the quality of our communities, our ability to decide how we spend our property tax dollars and on our property values.”

Property taxes are prohibitively high in many towns in New York State with Scarsdale ranking among the highest. Cuomo says the tax cap would offer relief to homeowners who are feeling forced out of their homes due to skyrocketing taxes. Businesses applaud the move as well saying it will provide jobs to the state.

The argument that the coalition made on Wednesday is that a state controlled cap on what can be spent locally is fundamentally wrong. The district already votes up and down its own budget and the state should not mandate how one town spends its monies. This bill has been compared to one in the state of California which has had a chilling effect on its public schools.

The proposal in its current form would require a 60% majority vote in a town to override the tax cap.

The Scarsdale Board of Education issued a paper opposing the bill earlier this year. The Board says that the tax cap takes away local decision making and has the potential to devastate education. The Scarsdale Board of Ed along with many other school boards in Westchester say that the 2% tax cap is barely enough to cover mandates.

“On the face of it, everyone wants lower taxes, but if you look into the mechanism of this bill you can see that this is no easy fix,” explains Nan Berke, President of the Scarsdale High School PTA. “ This would force school boards to make big cuts to curriculum and staff and cut to the quick of what makes Scarsdale schools excellent. This is pennywise and pound foolish.”

From the day in Albany as well as countless phone calls and emails, Rublin says he gets the sense the tax cap legislation may not be a done deal, at least in its current form. One issue that could stop the bill from progressing has nothing to do with schools, but with rent control guidelines.

And even if it passes that hurdle, the coalition is hoping for amendments to the bill. Among them, a lower percentage to override the cap, an exclusion of pension contribution growth which is often a huge cost to the districts, health care costs excluded and a change in language allowing adopting the higher figure of CPI growth vs. tax cap growth (right now it is the lower of the two). The coalition is also hoping the bill allows for changes due to enrollment growth or considers budget growth instead of tax levy growth.

If the bill passes in its current form or something similar to it, Rublin admits Scarsdale will have its work cut out for it if the same quality of education is to be maintained.

However, everything he learned in Albany showed that numbers matter and constituent’s count. It can be as simple as clicking on a link sent to you from the PTA.

“People shouldn’t think that their voice doesn’t count on this matter,” Rublin says. “From everything we have heard that its critical that everyone who cares about this issue that people express their views even if it’s just clicking on a link from an email from the PTA. Numbers matter.”

Pictured Above: Representatives from local schools met with Assemblywoman Paulin and Assemblyman Abinanti in Albany.

Jen is a freelance journalist who has covered the economy and markets for over a decade at a major financial news outlet. She lives in Scarsdale with her husband and 2 children. Jen has yet to bake a successful batch of cookies.

Comments (16)

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written by Only 30-40 for 2 kids, June 22, 2011

Maybe this is a value when your kids are in school, but think about if you want to stay here you get to pay this forever. That is 3-4 k / month

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written by a dose of reality, June 09, 2011

You have to recognize that SHS is basically a scam. The quality of education here is not good at all. These kids are over worked memorizing massive amounts of material ansd learning just about nothing. This isn't my opinion, but the opinion of professors who reviewed the school system. According to the Naviance web site, 5.5/7 ivy league schools agree with the professors. They don't want to touch our kids unless they are top flight athletes or their parents run the admissions offices. The game is the administration sells us their programs using smoke and mirrors, and as long as we find someone else to buy it when we go to sell our homes, we will be alright. If not, it won't be pretty.

The tax cap can end the game, which is frightening for those who benefit from it, but a relief for those with some sanity. Take the money away from these people and they will have to learn how to teach instead of selling us their bogus programs.

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written by Tax Cap is Wrong, June 06, 2011

Mr Tax Cap,

While national headlines talk about a double dip recession, the local economy remains relatively strong (this is NYC not Detroit). In fact, Wall Street paid out one of its largest bonus pools ever in 2011. And people are still flocking out of the city to Scarsdale b/c of the bargain the schools provide relative to private school in the city. Believe me, with 2 kids $30K - $40K in taxes is a bargain. That is where the demand for our homes comes from. If you ruin the quality of the schools demand will be ruined as people don't see the value in moving out of the city.

The fact of the matter is that while property values in Scarsdale did and will fluctuate with the overall economy, our property values were impacted FAR LESS than other communities in our area. The one and only reason why our property values fell less than other communities is the quality of our school district. That is the key factor that has helped ensure that the investment in our homes is safer than in other communities. The tax cap will kill that security!

This is a bad move by Albany and our Governor!!

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written by Disgusted , June 06, 2011

Tax Cap -

Have you seen the proposed cuts to the school district that would occur with a tax cap? The school board has done an analysis and they forecast the following losses:

o28 teachers
oElementary Librarians
oElementary Spanish
oSports
oExtra-curricular Activities

Do you remember your elementary school librarian teaching you how to use the card catalogue and do research to write a report. Well, that would be gone! How are we going to deal with the over-crowding that is already occuring in the High School with 28 less teachers?

This 'gutting' of our current school system would have a huge impact on property values and our children's education. And who is to say that mandate relief is coming next? If it is a fore-gone-conclusion, why isn't the Governor putting it into the same bill? The current bill says that state expenses are not capped.

That is a completely unfair bill that takes the power to set our own budgets and write our own checks away from local government. The approach they have taken is backward. What we need is mandate relief so that we don't have to set such high budgets.

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written by Tax Cap is First Step to Save NY, June 03, 2011

I find it ironic that some are arguing that somehow capping property taxes to a 2% rise per year when we have an economy that is about to go into a double dip recession and we have massive unemployment/underemployment will cause our property values to plunge. They've already plunged because of the economy and our insanely high property tax burden. Who will want to buy a $1 million house here and pay $40,000 or $50,000/year in property taxes for the privilege? That day is not far in the future with the continuing dramatic increases in the property tax rate. The tax cap must be coupled with mandate relief, but we have to start with step 1 -- an ironclad tax cap. Step 2 -- mandate relief will follow soon enough if the electorate demands it.

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written by A Neighbor, June 03, 2011

While mandates do certainly require money, so do minimum 3% raises every year. I think the point of the tax cap is to force us, as a community, to make choices. Do you really think Scarsdale voters won't override the tax cap? If everyone loves their schools (and in their minds, their property values) as much as they say they do, we'll set a new record for consecutive overrides every year. At some point we may realize an investment with a 1.8% fee every year (your house) needs to appreciate preeetttty fast to eventually break even. Feels a bit like a bubble to me.

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written by Concerned Resident, June 03, 2011

While a tax cap might seem like a good idea in theory, a tax cap without relief from the state-wide mandates will have a dramatic and negative impact on our schools. The mandates require so much money that a tax cap without relief will effectively mean major decreases in funding for programs that actually impact our students (as the cost of mandates is growing faster than the increases allowed under the cap). This will be devastating for school districts and communities like Scarsdale. Scarsdale is known throught the region and country for its amazing school district. The schools are essentially the identity of the town and impact everything from the type of people that move here and is a tremendous driver of our property values. If you degrade that school district you fundamentally change everything about what Scarsdale is and what attracts people to it. This is a tremendous risk for everyone that lives here, both those with children in the schools and those without. Who will want to pay $1MM - $2MM plus to live here without the quality of our schools?

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written by Nicolette, June 03, 2011

The Tax Cap is a political ruse for the Gov who wants to run for President some day. The whole concept is disingenous at best. People who live in Westchester County are willing to pay their fair share of taxes. Westchester County has great public schools and the Tax Cap will hurt all homeowners especially in certain areas with diverse socio-economics. The Tax Cap has the potential to lower property values because the schools will have to cut teachers, programming, and after school activities. The Tax Cap will not assist local governments with their greedy landlords, mismanaged funds, bizarre gerrymandering (Greenburgh), and tax certs. When you dig a little deeper and examine the potential ramifications - the Tax Cap doesn't make sense.

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written by LocalDollarLocal Control, June 03, 2011

If it sounds too good to be true - it is. Thie tax cap eliminates the ability of local communities to decide how to spend money. it does NOTHING to control the major cost drivers - e.g. State mandates like pension increases. I can see right through this. This bill would have us continuing to pay for State requirements and require cuts in what matters - number of teachers, class sizes, whether advanced math, languages, art remain school programs. For sure, my property value is going DOWN DOWN DOWN when "those who can" take their kids to out of state private schools. Maybe I will pay a little less in taxes, but when I sell my house I will be taking a HUGE hit. Albany is not fooling me with its splashy headlines. This bill will wreck our school and our kids' futures. It has to be stopped.

As for those who say its a first step - thats naive. Does anyone really think dysfunctional Albany will do more after Cuomo gets his "I want to be President" headline?

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written by Bob Vestal NY, June 03, 2011

We could CUT property taxes by 30% tomorrow morning and not a single in the classroom teacher would be lost! Consolidate the 700 plus schools districts into county school administration, just like most other state have now. Layoff thousands of $100K salary administrators that add no value to our schools and never see a school building, much less a classroom or a student.

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written by A Neighbor, June 03, 2011

We are perhaps pawns in the fight between Cuomo and the legislature, but what are they fighting for? I would assume Cuomo has aspirations to 2016, but most members of the legislature are going nowhere, they just want to stay employed in the legislature. As usual this means they give the taxpayer a sound bite and the union members pay/benefit raises in return for reelection funds. It is time that all governmental expenditures at all levels of state government be on the internet within 3 days...no FOIA reqeusts (how ridiculous are they, NYState has no serious national security needs) necessary. Let's see where the money goes.

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written by Tax Cap is First Step to Save NY, June 02, 2011

I agree that we are the pawns in the game between Gov. Cuomo and the legislature, but we need not be sacrificial pawns. Once the tax cap is enacted, we can then beat up on the Assembly and force them to remove the Triborough Amendment and force them to address serious mandate reform. I am an ardent Democrat, yet I believe it is the Democratic Assembly that is the real roadblock to reform. Gov. Cuomo, to his credit, has made the tax cap a centerpiece of his reform strategy. Change has to start with the tax cap. Mandate reform is the next step.

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written by Tax cap won't fix our problems, June 02, 2011

Dear "Tax Cap",
I fear you are misinformed about the tax cap - it is the legislature that is pushing the tax cap - they are not doing it with the intention of then having to be the ones to bust the unions....they expect YOU to do that. When your school has to fire teachers and cut programs they expect local communities to start a war with the teacher's union. If Albany wanted to go against the unions they would be doing it NOW, but they are not, instead they are placing our schools in an untenable position. Taxpayers are being manipulated into a war with our teachers - the very people we trust with our children's education. If you think Albany is looking to fight with the unions, ask Cuomo and the legislature to remove the Triborough Amendment NOW. If they do nothing, as I expect them to do, you will have proof that we are all being used.

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written by Sane in Scarsdale, June 02, 2011

This is pretty simple. If the school Board thinks that they cannot work within the cap then they should all resign and lets get a Board that demonstrates fiscal responsibility. For how long do the taxpayers have to keep paying twice the rate of inflation for our schools. They are pricing us out of the market!

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written by Hard Cap, Yes; Soft Cap, No., June 02, 2011

If you pass a soft tax cap that excludes pension reform and other costs, all you have done is crowd out spending on the district's children while continuing to transfer your wealth to the teacher's union.

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written by Tax Cap is First Step to Save NY, June 02, 2011

The property tax cap, though no panacea, is the first major step towards achieving some sanity in NY State in many years. It is precisely because of the severe cuts to existing programs and staffing that the tax cap will impose that the tax cap will ultimately be the mechanism that forces Albany to eliminate or curtail the mandates that are driving everyone out of the state. The legislature has managed to cave in so much to the public unions for so many years that we find ourselves in this terrible predicament. The tax cap will provide the impetus to pressuring this dysfunctional body politic into finally taking the steps needed to restore some financial health to the State. The tax cap needs to be strengthened, not watered down. Then, when the consequences are clear and the electorate starts screaming, the legislature will finally be forced to eliminate the outrageous Triborough Amendment and will be compelled to implement pension reform despite the hollering of the public unions.

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