An open letter to Greenburgh Unincorporated residents:
Dear Fellow Greenburgh Residents:
During this time of crisis in our community the Board of Education is continuing with their budget preparation and deliberation for the 2020-2021 school year. It is unknown at this time whether or not the Board will be able to have public hearings prior to the budget vote. It is unknown whether or not we will even be able to have a budget vote in May.
The budget presented to the community at the Board meeting of Feb. 27 called for a budget increase of 3.95% ($2,801,301). Funding this budget increase calls for a tax increase of 4.25%. Knowing that we are all aware of the “tax cap”, we received an exhaustive presentation discussing how the tax levy is calculated. It was demonstrated that the planned tax levy is at the tax cap.
While the proposed tax levy is within the tax cap allowed by law, the Board needs to realize that in this time of fiscal uncertainty for all of us, a tax increase will cause severe financial distress and hardship for many members of our community. A Journal News article this week stated that 65% of workers is the U.S. are HOURLY workers who therefore are subject to total loss of income when the businesses where they work are forced to close. Unemployment benefits do not make up for lost wages. Anticipated federal government bail-out money will not make up for lost wages. Those whose pensions depend upon their investments in the stock market are seeing their income plunge along with the market.
I urge you at this time to contact the members of the Board of Education, demanding that they prepare a budget that either does not increase taxes or that actually decreases taxes for the upcoming school year. The Board has been elected to serve both the students and the community who funds the education of the students. They should not be turning a blind eye to the fiscal realities of this Covid-19 crisis.
The following are the email addresses of the Board Trustees to whom you should address your concerns:
If you have questions regarding the Responsibility of the Boards of Education to prepare and present budgets, please visit the NY State Department of Education website: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/mgtserv/budgeting/handbook/legalaspects.html.
Interestingly, the Board is required to attach to the proposed budget “the salaries, benefits and any in-kind or other form of compensation of the superintendent, assistant or associate superintendent and any administrator who will earn over $138,000 in the upcoming year”.
Boards of education must also append to the proposed budget an annual report card prepared by the NYS Education Department which measures the academic performance of the district on a school by school basis. The report card must compare academic performance to statewide averages for all schools of comparable wealth and need. (Education Law §§1608, 1716 and 2601-a).
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