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Haldane Tax Worriers
Dear Editor:
Each year I have been attending about six or so Haldane Board of Education meetings and I continue to marvel at the dedication of the board members and school administration. They are all good, hard-working people and I give an extra gold-star to Board President Dave Merandy who is an inherent truth-speaker. At Board meetings, I particularly enjoy listening to our school principals when they give reports and answer questions, always thoughtfully and with ringing humanity. From my seat, I see a great team in action.
One of the thankless jobs of the Haldane Board is their annual brewing of the budget, which earns them my sympathy. It seems our community will forever be divided into three camps. First, we have the Just Say No To The School Budget group. Second, there is the Haldane Über Alles crowd. The third group consists of people like me who support public education but are very worried about the future.
Over the past year, I have been talking to other worriers like myself, and the words I hear grow increasingly grim. One common theme is the 5-year lifespan some residents think they have in Philipstown, meaning an enthusiastic, high-five Year 1 that descends to a bitter, embarrassing decision to sell in Year 5. Of course, taxes are only a contributing factor for these folks, who have other financial pressures to bolster their pessimism. Another theme is the look-ahead to ten years from now, where their crystal ball says: whatever your taxes are now, just multiply it by 2. A few say 3. I say ouch!
To be fair, this year's tax hike is not nearly as severe as the gold rush several years ago, and the Haldane Board is well aware of what is going on financially in our community. We have heard about "unfunded mandates", where feckless officials in government pass legislation on education initiatives without bothering to fork over the money for school districts to pay for these required programs. Our microscopic school district is under-leveraged to fight this unfairness.
One person had an idea that was so unrealistic, I thought it a work of art. He suggested a 5-year tax moratorium, where the Board of Education declares no increase during that period so that people can breath a bit and maybe regain lost ground. Well, what about these unfunded mandates, I asked. He responded by pointing to his well-funded stomach: "I'm going on a diet, so should Haldane".
So does all this mean that we worriers should reject this budget in the upcoming vote? Not necessarily. Voters need to make their peace with the needs of children, the size of their wallet, and the risk of losing their neighbors. Supporting public education is one of the most important responsibilities of citizenship. We each have to figure out how to do the right thing without becoming part of a community nervous breakdown. Nevertheless, there seems to be quite a few people looking to the future with their fingers crossed. I am one of them.
Joseph Barbaro
Cold Spring
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