Come one, come all. Tonight is the night. Bring your friend, bring your neighbor, and come prepared to speak your mind.
Tonight at 7:30 PM at City Hall, New Rochelle residents will finally have the opportunity to be heard on the final budget from the City School District of New Rochelle which will be voted on by referendum on May 19th, 2009. Make sure to demand a copy of the budget before the meeting begins so you can follow along.
We here at Talk of the Sound will be paying especially close attention to one number – the assumption about the decline of assessables which determines the ACTUAL size of the tax increase that will be required to deliver the revenue plan contained within the budget.
-1.4%
That is the number to look for in the new budget document to be delivered tonight. Has that number changed to reflect the current economic reality.
In the preliminary budget first released over a month ago, the District based their revenue projections on the indefensible assumption that property values have declined this year the same as last year. Does anyone in their right mind believe that? Of course, no one does including members of the school board and the administration of the district and yet they defended this assumption for a month at one “budget workshop” meeting after another. The City Finance Commission Howard Rattner confirmed to Talk of the Sound that for planning purposes the City is projecting a decline of more than double the 1.4% figure claimed by the District. Municipalities across the county are reporting a massive increase in property tax appeals – for example, up 300% in White Plains – yet school officials want to tell residents that nothing has changed in the real estate market over the past year.
Come prepared! Each resident is entitled to 3 minutes to voice their opinion about the budget. That is not a lot of time so come ready to talk on a specific point, prepare notes if needed and practice to make sure you can finish in well under 3 minutes otherwise the school board will cut you off.
Also, do not make any critical reference to ANY district employees in your remarks as it is the school board does not permit anyone to talk about district employees unless they are being praised. No joke, this is actually their policy based on some mythical interpretation of “privacy” laws.
The school board needs to hear that voters in New Rochelle are sick and tired of being lied to with fraudulent school budgets designed to mask wasteful, unjustified programs and trick voters into supporting massive tax increases.