Take Action and send a letter to your legislators.

Posted August 4, 2008; revised August 5.
NYS PTA Opposes Tax Caps

PTA Action Alert: Oppose Property Tax Caps -- Act Now to Preserve Education in New York State

Over the weekend (Aug 1-3) we attended the NYS PTA Summer Leadership Conference at Utica College. There we discussed the PTA’s position opposing the proposed State Tax Cap.

“New York State PTA recognizes the need to examine property tax relief options for NY's overburdened taxpayer. However, imposing property tax caps on school districts has the potential to erode the long held belief in local control and undermine the ability to provide quality education for every child.”

After careful examination, NYS PTA has decided to oppose tax caps because:

Additional background information, facts, and links are below.

This is an urgent issue. The NY State Legislature will return this week (Aug 4) to vote on a school-property-tax cap. The PTA is asking its members and others to consider the issue and send a letter opposing the tax cap to our legislators. Follow the six easy steps below.

Urgent: Act Now to Preserve Education in New York State
 http://capwiz.com/npta2/ny/issues/alert/?alertid=11511916

You can easily send a letter to your state representatives on this issue by following these steps:

  1. Lookup your ZIP+4 code if you do not already know it.
    ZIP Code Lookup: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4 (enter your street address)

  2. Go to the NYS PTA Property Tax Caps Alert site
    http://capwiz.com/npta2/ny/issues/alert/?alertid=11151056

  3. Read the Action Alert message, and scroll to the Compose Message Section.

  4. A prepared text is already entered. You may cut and paste whatever message you wish to send in the Editable Text box.

  5. Add your name and fill the required (*) fields. You must enter your ZIP and Zip+4 to send the message to your District representative.

  6. Send the Message

 

 See additional information below.

 Thanks for taking action. Please forward this message to others.

Greece PTA Council, co-presidents
      Missy Fuino, fuino1@rochester.rr.com

      Gary R. Elling, gelling@rochester.rr.com

      http://PTAgreeceNY.org 

 

Background and other information on Tax Caps and Alternatives

Property Tax Caps White Paper [pdf on NYS PTA site]

Property Tax Caps PowerPoint Presentation [ppt on NYS PTA site]

Here’s the PTA’s default email message for this issue.

The Governor’s executive order to establish the seven-member NY State Commission on Property Tax Relief to address the problem of NY’s rising property tax burden would appear to be a worthy endeavor.  That NY’s local tax burden is the highest in the nation and that school district property taxes account for 61% of the property taxes paid outside NY City, clearly demonstrate the burden homeowners bear.  Among the charges to the Commission are provisions to examine the “root causes” of this high tax burden, effective mechanisms to provide relief, and to identify the “most effective approach to imposing a limit on local school property taxes”. Of concern is the ambiguity in the charge in that a property tax cap seems predetermined. Also, while the Commission will examine the impact of caps on the quality of education, there is no representation of K-12 public schools on the Commission to provide that insight.

Property tax caps are regressive in nature, do not address the root causes of escalating school costs, and can result in greater inequity between poor and affluent communities. They do nothing to ameliorate mandated expenditures, such as employee contractual obligations, escalating energy costs, and soaring special education costs - all controlled not by school districts but by state or federal laws and regulations. Unlike affluent communities, low-wealth areas have less ability to override caps or the means to provide supplemental foundations.  States that have imposed property tax caps have paid the price through the loss of educational access and quality. California districts were forced to cut school programs, teaching and counseling staff and some Massachusetts towns were forced to lay off school and municipal employees and close libraries and senior centers.

NY has had a long held belief in local control and already imposes spending caps to maintain fiscal balance. Most of NY relies on the direct vote of school district residents to determine if, and how much, they should invest in educating the children of their community. To maintain balance, when voters reject a proposed school district budget twice, there is a mandated contingent budget cap placed on expenditure growth. These caps often result in residents funding programs and activities out-of-pocket, at greater cost to the tax payer.

Rising property taxes is not an issue of school district overspending. The issue is one of diminished state revenues, state policy spending decisions, and mandated expenses beyond school district control. Adding insult to injury imposing regressive property tax caps, proven to undermine educational quality, seems counterproductive.  Exploring alternative measures of tax relief, such as circuit breakers, might better benefit both  NY’s overburdened tax payers and overburdened schools.

http://capwiz.com/npta2/ny/issues/alert/?alertid=11511916
Urgent: Act Now to Preserve Education in New York State

A VOTE may be imminent on Tax Caps!

Dear PTA Members,

On the surface, the proposal of the Suozzi Commission on Property Tax Relief to "cap" school district levies at an annual 4% sounds quite enticing. However, "caveat emptor", Buyer Beware! Tax caps are regressive measures proven to undermine both student access to quality education and community well-being. So, before you "buy" (are asked your opinion), make sure you read the warning label!

WARNING: Don't be fooled that the solution for tax relief is this tax cap! We recognize the burden of high property taxes however the commission's targeted focus on schools as the solution misrepresents the issue. Schools have become an easy mark for accusations of overspending while the State Comptroller's Office has consistently found that this simply is not true. The report eliminates relief structures already in place, such as STAR rebates. School budget votes already empower communities to vote down budgets and to cap expenditures they deem too high. If we believed schools to be the problem, why did nearly 93% of school budgets pass this year?

WARNING: Tax caps implemented in other states have had devastating effects on schools and communities! California's Proposition 13 reduced some of the best schools in the country to the worst by eliminating physical education, art and music, increasing class size, reducing staffing, etc. Colorado has followed a similar path. Massachusetts is touted as having a successful tax cap and high overall achievement. Here the achievement gap between students living in affluent neighborhoods, where caps are easily overridden, and those of low-income areas, has increased exponentially. Short falls in state aid are offset by reducing or eliminating municipal services and employees. With greater density, poverty and diversity of population, the impact on our NY schools and communities could be devastating. Why revert to such a regressive system when we are barely into the second year of a foundation formula for school aid, purportedly designed to address educational inequities?

WARNING: Mandates make it impossible to cut non-discretionary spending! "Caps" force cuts in discretionary programs, staff and services. Even with modest staff salary increases, when coupled with escalating fuel, insurance benefits, and special education costs, districts will have no choice but to cut student programs and staffing to meet the cap. Research programs that produce the largest number of Intel science winners in the nation, arts and music programs, remedial and AP classes should not only be realities for affluent school districts, but for all. It is unrealistic to think state aid to districts will increase at a percentage needed to offset a cap and assure continued access to these programs.

WARNING: Be wary of election-year gimmicks! Schools have been far more publicly responsible than other forms of government - the majority of educators are highly qualified and financial and programmatic auditing practices now abound. There is no indication of a comparable reform effort anywhere but for the schools. There is no recommendation that the state provide a minimum percent of state aid annually.

Through the recommendation of this Commission our children, schools and communities become political bargaining chips. With no one participating to represent either the interest or intricacies of our public schools, the Commission report puts politics before children, artificial numbers before quality, and attempts to satisfy a few while paying little regard to the impact on the whole. In contrast, we in PTA want what is best for our children and communities and recognize that sometimes this takes personal sacrifice. It is critical to know the facts and not accept hasty decisions based on misguided premises that bargain away our children's future and devalue our communities. Let's not buy in to a quick-fix solution that, in reality, will do more harm than good. Instead, we must adhere to the belief and fight to retain this right -- how much, and in what manner we will invest in our children, our schools, and our future is our choice to make. As advocates, you will soon be called upon to add your voice to ensure this choice!

Property tax cap is useless for Monroe County schools
 Democrat and Chronicle, Guest Essay, July 29, 2008, Jody Siegle
 http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807290314

Oppose Property Tax Caps
 Click on this URL to take action now
http://capwiz.com/npta2/ny/utr/2/?a=11151056&i=89126581&c=

 

Urgent: Act Now to Preserve Education in New York State
http://capwiz.com/npta2/ny/issues/alert/?alertid=11511916
Monroe County School Boards Association
 http://mcsba.org/legislat.html

 

New York State PTA
 http://www.nyspta.org/

For a summary of the PTA position on other issues see: Where We Stand
 http://www.nyspta.org/CMT/Publications/WHEREWESTAND2008revised5.27.08.pdf

http://nyspta.org/CMT/Publications/FactSheet2008.pdf

 

Greece PTA Council Home Page