The head of a state teachers' union said in a radio interview that the state-imposed property tax levy cap will be challenged in court.
“Educationally it’s a resounding failure, and it needs to be addressed," said Richard Iannuzzi, president of NYSUT, appearing on The Capitol Bureau show on radio station WCNY. "It needs to be addressed and it will be addressed in the courts by NYSUT at some point, probably not that far off.”
Iannuzzi said that a challenge is being worked on now but has not been filed.
“We are preparing a case and when we’re satisfied that we’ve addressed all the issues that we want to address, we will go to court.”
Responding, host Susan Arbetter asked whether the lawsuit would come before Jan. 1, 2013.
Iannuzzi replied, “[I] don’t know, but I would say that’s fairly close to where we would probably wind up.”
The issues that NYSUT would argue against involve whether the cap is democratic; Iannuzzi noted the 60-percent supermajority needed by public vote to override it. Another issue would involve whether the cap contributes to funding inequity between school districts, he said in the interview.
The cap limits the tax levy, which represents the amount of revenue that a school district, municipality, county or other special district, can raise for a given budget cycle year over year. The limit is the lesser of 2 percent or the rate of inflation, although there are exemptions for things such as some pensions costs and changes to the property tax base.
The cap, however, does not limit the tax rate, with is the amount of money paid by taxpayers per $1,000 of assessed value. The rates can fluctuate depending on changes to the assessed property value of the tax base, or in the case of multi-town entites such as school districts, because of the equalization rate formula used to apportion the costs among constituent municipalities.
The cap has caused frustration among school district and municipal officials locally, who feel that is presents a financial burden while they are not getting relief from expensive state mandates, such as pension contributions and required busing for private school students. While school districts need a supermajority of voters in a referendum, other forms of local government only need a 60-percent threshold from their elected boards to override the cap.
The cap was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a New Castle resident and Democrat, in June 2011, shortly after it passed the state legislature.
School districts and local governments are currently in their first fiscal years under the cap. Ninety-two percent of school district proposed budgets for 2012-13 that were at or under the cap, according to the New York State School Boards Association.
We are going too far already in some ways with evaluation. Making individual teacher evaluations available to the public (which they basically are now; a parent can find out a teacher's evaluation and then post it on the internet without legal repercussion) is abusive and un-called for. What other low or medium level employee puts up with that? On the other hand, the cost of these teachers is ridiculous. I don't need any more examination and thinking to know that, and all this time they get more of our money. Mike I think you're just playing the delaying game. No more delays. Cut now however it can be done, maybe put some back later. Better to cut too much than too little; there's plenty of unemployed people with good professional skills who could value, maybe a little more or a little less than current staff, who would work for much less.
You failed at that, because the evidence is not there. You offered the idea of someone spending a week in a classroom. One needs to get background-checked and then hired to some such position before that's even possible. (How do I know that? Maybe I have some relevant experience???) So what you "offer" is impossible, isn't it?
Oh boy.....Letting teachers run things is probably the worst idea I ever heard. Talk about letting the fox guard the hen house. And speaking about teachers buying school supplies for their students...I hear that comment so often it makes me sick. If 80% of our school taxes didn't go towards teacher compensation there would be plenty of money for school supplies. In Westchester we have teachers making $150,000, yes I said $150,000, in annual compensation. The New York taxpayers and their children are being ripped off. It's criminal. America pays teachers more than any other country in the world and our children continue to fail miserably in comparison to the rest of the world. Here's a novel idea - We pay teachers a very generous 12 month salary so let's get them to teach our children for more than eight months of the year. The average taxpayer works 12 months each year, right? Let's get rid of the ridiculous union rules that prevent us from kicking out bad teachers. Teachers retire at 57. The average taxpayer will retire at 67. How is that fair? Let's get teachers retiring at 67 like the rest of us - or at least have them collect their generous guaranteed pensions when they turn 67. Public sector employees are the real privileged class in America. The taxpayers are a bunch of suckers paying for public sector employees to retire in their 50's with guaranteed pensions and health coverage while the average taxpayer will retire at 67 with no financial guarantees.
Aidan likes to tell people they should try being a teacher. He actually told me I wouldn't last five minutes as a teacher. That's somewhat puzzling to me because we've never met and he knows nothing about me. Maybe to last more than five minutes as a teacher you need to be able to make rash and uninformed opinions of your students as well. God help his students if he is a teacher.
As for the Fox guarding the hen house, educators calling the shots works in other countries (in case you missed the memo, we're not doing so great here). Do you not feel confident that Americans have the capability of doing the right thing by our kids? I find your lack of faith disturbing.... So to speak...
Nope, again he's MIA. Vote Bob Cohen on 11/6! We need someone who cares enough to support issues like this and you're not going to get that from Latimer, he's in deep with the teacher's union. You know the people suing NY State over the tax cap. Thanks but no thanks!
Absolutely. ALL public sector employees should start receiving pension benefits when they turn 67. Better yet - they all need to be switched to 401K plans so the taxpayers financial obligation ends when the employee retires. There is a poster on these boards that is a retired public sector employee. (He has always been a gentleman in our exchanges and I'm not going to mention his name) He is in his late 40's and has an annual pension of over $80,000. He put in his 20 years and now the taxpayer will be paying his $80,000+ pension and benefits for the next 40 years. (God willing) This isn't financially sustainable as Greece has shown us. This is only one instance where public sector unions are sticking it to the taxpayer or hurting our children with the help of their bought and paid for politicians.
I don't hold teachers necessarily responsible for the issues of the inner city; frankly I have little or no relevant experience to assess that, but it seems likely that much is beyond the control of a good teacher. I do expect them to be able to teach in more favorable environments, and I believe they are paid far above what they could command in the market (if they did not have their unionized jobs) and would like to cut that pay down to size, for the good of the communities hosting those schools.
apt dwellers etc--1 TOTAL vote per apt. My personal opinion is that apt dwellers should pay separate school taxes+ slightly decreased rent. having to write that check may convince some of them to cool it on the auto yes vote
I get it. I couldn't hack it as a teacher. Thanks.
Harold I bet you would do fine if you've ever done much public speaking and are willing to prepare a bit and improvise as you go.
http://government-pay.findthedata.org/d/e/NY
And let's not forget what NJ Gov. Chris Christie said, "We support the teachers, just not the teacher's union". If only our elected officials here in Westchester would get that into their heads instead of being funded & indebted to the teachers union. Voters should run from any candidate running on the Working Families Party (WFP) line which is the party of the public unions. Go ahead & google it & you'll see they're only looking out for themselves. In lower Westchester, that would be Amy Paulin, Steve Otis, Andrea Stewart-Cousins & George Latimer. Mark my words, none of them are going to propose any reforms that might lower costs for NYS. That would be going against the union bosses who got them elected.