Taxpayers cry 'enough'; parents plead for kids

In school districts where the proposed tax increase exceeded Long Island's 3.4 percent average, and even in those where the increases were much lower, the message from many taxpayers was the same: Enough is enough.

But some parents implored residents to consider the severity of cuts to educational programs if budgets fail when voters go to the polls next month.

Brentwood resident Estelle Druian, 85, said "it's ridiculous" when faced with the district's planned 6.41 percent school property tax increase. Spending in Brentwood actually declined 1.05 percent, according to figures from the State Education Department, which released proposed budgets and tax levies for Long Island's 124 public school districts for the 2010-2011 school year Tuesday.

"I don't know where they think that we can afford to keep going like this," said Druian, a retiree who is on a fixed income.

She thinks the Brentwood district should look at cutting the number of administrators on staff. Brentwood teachers, who comprise the biggest teachers union on Long Island, recently agreed to give up next year's raises as well as take temporary pay cuts as part of $11 million in givebacks.

Loraine Magaraci, of West Hempstead, where the tax is expected to rise by 9.4 percent and spending by 3.69 percent, said communities must support their school budgets. "We have to get it passed. It's for the kids," said Magaraci, a parent of three. "It's to keep our programs, it's to keep our fields, it's to keep our teachers. If the budget goes down, it will be detrimental to our district."

In Smithtown, where a modest 1.66 percent tax increase is proposed and the district has a planned zero-percent spending increase, resident Marianna Nelson, 59, said salaries are keeping taxes high. "Somebody should have to give up something, especially the administration," she said.

But one parent, Russell Spatafora, 47, of Smithtown, who has a child in fourth grade, said he would not want to see the district cut programs. "It's tough to make ends meet, but overall we're happy with the schools," he said.

Many districts have been facing increasing pressure on property tax revenues as Gov. David A. Paterson has proposed slashing state aid to Long Island districts by more than $172 million. A final state aid figure has not yet been determined.

In the Middle Country School District, where taxes are projected to increase by 3.99 percent over last year, taxpayer Al Lafaso, 60, Tuesday wondered when school tax increases will end. "They're totally oblivious to everything else going on economically," Lafaso said of school officials.

Richard Salvio, 68, of Nesconset, said the Sachem School District's limiting the tax increase to 1.13 percent was not good enough. It should be zero, he said.

Frank Russo, 67, of the Port Washington Educational Assembly, said that the district's 1.94 percent proposed tax increase was "too much" during a troubled economic time. "There are a lot of people having trouble paying these bills," he said.And, in Wyandanch, where the proposed tax increase is 13.94 percent, the highest on the Island by far, resident Sadie Badon, 77, felt resigned to paying a higher bill no matter what.