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For the Record: Haldane PTA's Role in Publicizing the Re-Vote
Dear Editor:
Joe Barbaro's letter from June 25 gives all of us the opportunity to work together to change the system of taxation for the schools that burdens the vast majority of us, yes and no voters alike. Instead of friends and neighbors taking sides against each other at next year's budget vote, we could work together now on property tax reform.
The vast majority of yes and no voters are tired of high taxes. The difference between us is that I, and 709 others across all walks of life in our community, didn't want to solve the problem by taking away so much directly from the children, which is the reality of a contingency budget. We should, however, come together and explore putting our support behind such movements as Sandy Galef's plan for Property Tax Relief. You can read more about this on the Haldane PTA web site at http:// haldanepta.webptn.com.
For the record, the PTA spent under $200 of pre-budgeted money, the same as it spends each year, to reach as many PTA members, parents, guardians and community members as it could to advise of this important re-vote. We did NOT work with any of the organizations Joe mentions in his letter. The only difference this year is that these efforts should have taken place earlier, but for myriad reasons did not. Had the appropriate information been disseminated in mid-May vs. Mid-June, a revote may not have been necessary. Since it is more difficult to inform the community of a re-vote, the PTA accepted a private donation of $72 to help cover the extra costs. I hope that these facts help clarify Joe's concerns of conspiracy and excessive money being behind the PTA's campaign to inform and educate voters. It was simply the effort of many PTA members working together that made the "Yes" campaign so effective.
Hopefully, we can make a difference for everyone by applying our efforts together to attack the problem in the right place.
Debbi Milner
Cold Spring
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