Stands pat with not passing partial tax exemption
When American Legion members Dr. Joseph Fry and Walter Gross attended a Feb. 10 Garden City Board of Education meeting and brought up the issue of the board enacting a veterans partial tax exemption for the 2016-17 fiscal year, the duo was told the board wouldn’t be passing it. Furthermore, comments were made by board members at the meeting stating there wasn’t “…a groundswell from the rest of the community on this issue.” The American Legion responded by having roughly 10 members show up for the May 12 meeting with the hopes that a referendum might be put on the school budget ballot so that Garden City taxpayers might be able to vote on getting the board to pass this exemption.
Gross returned and was the first to speak, touching on the aforementioned “groundswell” comment, which inspired the Legion to have greater representation at this meeting. He also read aloud letters in support of the board enacting this exemption from fellow veteran and current Garden City Mayor Nicholas Episcopia and Laura Schaeffer, a 14th District Nassau County Legislator.
Schaeffer’s correspondence read in part: “This exemption is an important recognition for the many sacrifices that a military life requires and the brave men and women that chose to serve and the family’s that stand behind them including the members of Post No. 265. They continue to serve their community by mentoring youth, comforting and counseling soldiers and families struggling with wartime injuries, raising money for all manner of charitable causes and reminding us that our freedom and indeed our very lives were secured by those who risked everything to protect the promise of this great nation.”
Unlike STAR exemptions, the veterans partial tax exemption does not get any financial shortfalls made up by the state. Instead, fellow taxpayers wind up having to pick up the slack. According to Board of Education President Barbara Trapasso, this was a nonstarter for the board.
“The anger by the board is that the governor in his infinite wisdom decided to put forth an exemption that unlike the STAR exemption—if he truly wanted to give the veterans an exemption, he would have given you an exemption and he would have picked up the slack. Instead what he did was give an exemption, but the remaining taxpayers in the community are going to pick up the [difference]. I have a problem with that,” she explained. “What the board has done historically and made a conscious decision historically was not to shift a tax burden from one tax payer to another. It’s been the history of the board. The board has thought long and hard about it and it’s something that it’s the board’s decision at this time.”
She also added that as president, a good number of conversations residents have with her are about the high tax rate.
“Generally, 99 percent of what people talk to me about is about their taxes and how high they are and how they don’t want their taxes to increase,” she explained. “I don’t only hear this from senior citizens. I now hear it from parents with children in the elementary grades, parents with kids in middle and high school and parents who are now empty nesters and their kids are in college and they cannot afford the taxes on Long Island.”
Chris Blume, commander of Garden City’s William Bradford Turner American Legion, Post No. 265 spoke and inquired about working with the board to make this a referendum residents could vote on.
“I would like to understand and possibly work with you next year for the 2016-17 budget process. If not, what’s the process to make sure that it’s out there as one of the propositions on the ballot for next year’s budget so that the voters of Garden City can make the decision?” he said.
According to Trapasso, the board was “…entrusted with making these decisions for the community…” and that, “The board has thought long and hard about it and it’s something that it’s the board’s decision at this time.”
When Blume pressed to find out how to put it out as a proposition for residents to vote on, Trapasso replied, “It’s not a vote on who wants to have an exemption or not. It’s not something that’s eligible to be a proposition.” She also pointed out that while there was a tax exemption for volunteer firefighters, this was something that was granted by the village and that the board of education had not enacted this tax break when it was presented to them a number of years ago.
Emotions got heated on behalf of the veterans with Gross pointing out: “Every other district that you put yourselves in connection with has passed this. They think it’s okay and they passed it along to their other taxpayers. They think it’s a reward for the veterans. The fact that you can’t see it is disgusting.”
(The only districts on Long Island to not enact the veterans partial tax exemption are Garden City, Hempstead, Roosevelt, Bethpage, Lynbrook and Lawrence. Manhasset, Jericho, Port Washington, Roslyn and Herricks, districts Garden City is often compared to, have passed this exemption.)
The veterans also angrily reacted to Trustee Laura Hastings saying, “Our fiduciary duty as school board trustees is to make sure that there’s money here to educate our students,” to which Blume retorted, “This doesn’t take a dollar away from the budget” and Gross adding “For the record, it has no effect on the budget and I’m a little disappointed that a board member wouldn’t understand that.” And while one veteran observed, “If you don’t personally understand what we went through, it’s hard to appreciate what we’re asking,” Joseph Leto was even more pointed with his comments.
“There would be no Garden City. There would be no school. Veterans go to hell. That’s what they’re telling us. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
The vote for the Garden City Public School District 2015-16 budget is Tuesday, Old Bethpage Village Restoration celebrates Decoration Day. May 19 followed by a board of education meeting at Garden City High School.
