"Do-Over" Budget Votes Tuesday

[Chris_Wendt]

Five (Six) school districts will be holding wholly un-American "Do-Over" budget votes this Tuesday. June 18, 2013. All five (six) districts having "Do-Over" budget votes had attempted to "pierce the tax cap" in May. There was only one other district that attempted--and succeeded--"piercing the tax cap" in May (Bay Shore). All five (5) (six (6)) of the failed May budgets has actually passed by a simple majority (50% + 1 vote), but a 60% vote was required to "pierce the tax cap", which they failed to achieve.

Information on the upcoming re-votes is scarce. At least two districts are rolling the dice and attempting again to "pierce the tax cap", one with a significantly reduced proposal, and the other using the more arrogant, "in your face" approach of submitting to the voters the exact same budget those same voters rejected just weeks ago. (It was that same arrogant, "in your face" approach of resubmitting the same failed budget several years ago that put Wantagh on austerity and left the community to fund-raise $675,000 to reinstate sports and some selected activities).

Before Tuesday I hope to be able to better handicap these votes.

I will try to keep you posted.

Chris Wendt

[bnjasper]

Re-vote – I assume audacity is a good word when referring to presenting the same budget. That is how I felt when Wantagh did that after the BOE president assured the community the BOE would honor the will of the people.
The other major issue, unless I am wrong, is this is a school responsible for educating. Is this a way to educate our children by telling them if you don’t like the vote do it again?

[Chris_Wendt]

A cone of silence has been imposed upon media coverage in the run-up to tomorrow’s landmark “Do-Over” school budget votes on LI. In May, six (seven) school districts put up budgets that attempted to “pierce the tax cap” had they passed with 60% margins. Only one of those district, Bay Shore, successfully reached the 60% threshold, and their budget “passed”. The other five (six) districts did not attain the 60% susuper-majority and, despite their budgets having garnered more than 50% of the votes cast, their budgets did not “pass”. Here is the landmark: five (six) school budgets “failed” despite having won the plebiscite.

For reasons both similar and different, I and the NY State United Teachers Union (NYSUT) believe the “Two-Percent Tax Cap” to be unconstitutional. The constitutionallinchpinn of both of our positions is the legislative imposition of a 60% super-majority for passing a school budget, something which is not written into the NY Constitution. NYSUT has filed suit to have the “tax cap” declared unconstitutional; I just blog about it. But having had some experience with constitutional challenges to school funding laws (R.E.F.I.T. lawsuit), I learned that before such a challenge can be granted by the Court of Appeals there needs to be a plaintiff who can claim and demonstrate how the law that is being challenged has harmed them. The potential for that to occur is present in at least two of the districts where budgets that are still in excess of the “tax cap” will be voted upon tomorrow, and if either is “defeated” with a vote tally greater than 50% but less than 60%, then injury or harm to various stakeholders is entirely possible.

In the event a budget that attempts to “pierce the tax cap” fails twice to attain 60% of the votes cast, then that district is precluded from increasing their tax levy by even one dollar. According to the districts trying to “pierce the tax cap” tomorrow, cuts in programs including the elimination of Kindergarten (all of it), many or all sports, and faculty and staff reductions that will increase class size dramatically will result. These are all actions that are within the authority of school boards to enact, regardless of how you or I feel about them.

However, If 50% of the voters in one of those districts voted to “pass” the budget which failed to reach supermajority, I think parents, students, and affected faculty and staff would have a real cause of action against the constitutionality of “tax cap”.

But there is an even bigger potential issue in the event a “passed” budget fails tomorrow under the 60% rule. Being then legally proscribed from raising taxes to meet their contractual financial obligations, such a district could become the first ever in NY to successfully petition for bankruptcy relief. If that were to occur, then we would be looking at the real reason NYSUT had file suit to declare the “tax cap” unconstitutional: if a school district goes bankrupt as a result, then one the most likely results would be abrogation of that school district’s various employee contracts, with the school board (or creditors committee) unilaterally imposing salary reductions and new efficient work rules on their employees.

Then there is the other possibility: that all five (six) of these district's budgets pass tomorrow. Such a watershed outcome would serve as a clarion call about the efficacy of the politically expedient pseudo "Two-Percent Tax Cap" being neither two percent nor a cap on taxes.

I suspect the media silence about tomorrow’s vote is calculated to reduce the attention paid to these votes, especially in the districts still trying to “pierce the tax cap”. If tax activists focused and broadcast the fact that defeating one of these budgets would freeze the tax levy, and possibly bankrupt a school district, possibly vacating teacher and employee contracts, that knowledge could provide a powerful incentive for some people to come out and vote down their school budget.

Personally, I want the “two-percent tax cap” to be declared unconstitutional: it is not two percent and it does not cap taxes. It has imposed irrational constraints on school boards and school administrators, but it has not addressed any of the root causes of high taxes, which are State Pension costs, state-mandated health care costs, the Triborough Amendment to the Taylor Law (perpetration of salary increases without negotiation), and Section 3020(a) which protects teachers and administrators from disciplinary action. It also contains the poison pill, that 60% super-majority, which can certainly deprive voters of their right to determine spending in their own school district.

We can now only wait to see that happens tomorrow, Tuesday, June 18, 2013 in these five (six) school districts.

Regards,

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

Here's the lineup, from Newsday today:

• North Babylon...re-submitting the exact same budget that is above their cap and was defeated on May 21. $112 Million, 3.14% tax increase
• Manhasset is submitting a budget reduced from the one that was defeated on May 21, but which still exceeds their cap. $86 Million, 1.97% tax increase (cap is 0.15%)
• Sachem submitting a budget reduced to their cap limit to avoid the requirement for a super-majority vote. Sachem's budget is $286 Million and features restoration of Full-day K and all sports. 3.14% tax increase. This is a reduction of $4.4 Million from their current 2012-13 budget. If this budget is defeated, Kindergarten will be completely eliminated along with all sports.
• Baldwin also reduced their budget down to their cap limit. $119 Million with a 3.14% tax increase. Full-day K restored, some sports cuts included. If this budget fails, Kindergarten and sports will be eliminated.
• South Country budget $117 Million, reduced to equal the tax cap (0.98%). If this budget fails, full-day K will be reduced to 1/2-day K and all sports will be eliminated.
• East Quogue cut $600K from their $23 Million budget to come down to within the tax cap. There are 430 students in East Quogue.

Let's see what happens tonight!

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

##FINAL## Results:

• Sachem - Passed
• North Babylon - Passed - Exceeded Tax Cap
• South Country - Passed
• East Quogue - Passed
• Baldwin - Passed
• Manhasset - Passed - Exceeded Tax Cap

Commentary tomorrow.

Good night,

Chris Wendt