LI school officials warn of cuts, more taxes

Long Island school officials said Wednesday that proposed cuts in state aid could force higher taxes unless they make deep cuts in staff and services.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's proposal to slash an average of 11 percent from Island budgets - coupled with rising costs of employee salaries, pensions and health insurance - are presenting districts with stark choices.

The double whammy, school superintendents say, could push up taxes as much as 5 percent or 6 percent on average - unless they reduce expenses.

"Look, we know the state is in trouble," said William Johnson, chief of Rockville Centre schools and former president of the State Council of School Superintendents. "I think we just have to live through this crisis."

Officials say on average they would have to raise taxes 3 percent to 4 percent simply to cover rising personnel costs. That, they say, is compounded by Cuomo's proposed cuts, which average 2.3 percent of this year's budgets.

Cuomo suggests that schools could make up the difference largely by drawing on their cash reserves, including unspent federal jobs money - an amount he estimates at $1.8 billion statewide.

Port Washington's superintendent, Geoffrey Gordon, says he's trying to negotiate a pay freeze with district employees next year - and has offered to take a freeze himself - to avoid raising taxes or cutting services.

"I don't think the public is in the mood for a tax increase of any size," he said.

Officials now drafting next year's budgets say it's too early to project tax rates with any accuracy. Islandwide, school taxes this year rose 3.41 percent.

But Long Island taxpayer advocates fear that rates on homes and businesses could actually rise at a faster clip in the year immediately ahead, as school officials compensate for state aid cuts and meet rising costs of employee pensions and other perks.

A statewide tax cap proposed by Cuomo aimed at curbing big increases would not take effect until the 2012-13 school year. Taxpayer representatives say they can only hope the sting of higher rates will prove temporary.

"That's going to hurt us, but it's only going to hurt us once," said Fred Gorman of Nesconset, a leader of Long Islanders for Educational Reform, a regional taxpayer group.

Another representative of that group, Frank Russo of Port Washington, says he and his neighbors worry about the prospect of higher rates, nonetheless.

"The people I know are struggling," Russo said. "They haven't seen increases in their salaries. Their home values are down."

Wednesday, the organization issued a letter thanking state political leaders in Albany who are sponsoring a tax cap for demonstrating "the necessary courage to save this state."

In Albany this week, political leaders set the stage for a bitter fight over curbs on both school spending and taxes.

On Monday, the GOP-dominated State Senate approved a bill endorsed by Cuomo, a Democrat, that would clamp an annual 2 percent cap on increases in property taxes. The bill faces potential amendments in the Democratic-controlled State Assembly, and would not take effect until the 2012-13 school year.

The next day, Cuomo proposed $1.5 billion in school-aid cuts statewide - the biggest reductions ever in dollar terms. This would include nearly $250 million in losses for the Island's schools, and would also require legislative approval.

Outside experts quickly noted that slashing aid by that amount would almost inevitably lead to higher property taxes - at least, until caps go into effect.

"This is going to put school districts in the position of having to increase property taxes substantially or cut programs substantially," said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a labor-backed think tank.