Where was Suzi on the cap, asks Feld
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- August
- 8
Liz Feld today blasted Senator Suzi Oppenheimer for being on vacation when the Senate today voted on a tax cap measure.
Feld, mayor of Larchmont, called it “the most important tax relief measure in decades.†“This piece of legislation provides real relief to Westchester families and seniors struggling with escalating property taxes. Skipping this vote is a clear indication that Senator Oppenheimer is out of touch with New York’s taxpayers,” Feld said in her release.
Feld supports Governor Paterson’s tax cap proposal because Westchester residents pay among the highest property taxes in the country, she said.
Oppheimer responded:”I have been excused from today’s meeting because I was already in Alaska with my family when this wasteful one-house meeting was called and was unable to return. I will be in Albany on August 19th when the real two-house special session called by the Governor is convened and will be advancing my bill to enact a property tax cut by having NYS assume school district retirement system payments and require districts to cut their tax rate by that amount in order to reduce property taxes now.”
Not long after the vote, Rob Biagi, Republican candidate for the Assembly running against George Latimer, said the “Assembly should follow” suit — he called on its leaders, and Latimer, to pass the tax cap.
This entry was posted
on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 3:34 pm by Gerald McKinstry.
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Oppenheimer checked out a long time ago. I guess its to be expected after being entrenched in Albany politics for 24 years. Its about time people start realizing this.
Regardless of whether Senator Oppenheinmer should or should not have been in Albany for the vote—the advocates for a tax cap are copping the easy way out of very difficult issues surrounding Albany’s relationship with school districts. There continues to be a complete disconnect when it comes to dealing with public schools and what they should or shouldn’t do and what they should or shouldn’t be about. Most public policy wonks agree that the best econmoic development program—the best investment in our society’s future—is making an investment in quality education for all children in all communities. It almost sounds like a truism.
Then – start talking about school taxes and teacher and administrator salaries—and you get a completely disconnected set of inputs on that—mostly vituperative diatribes.
Governor Paterson and the State Senate leadership have abdicated any sense of leadership on this issue—by taking only the tax cap recommendation of the Suozzi commission—and leaving behind the balance of the recommendations—which dealt with expunging unfunded mandates. Now even Senator Sandra Galef—usually a thoughtful policymaker—has thrown her lot in with the “Cap now ask questions later” crowd. As far as candidate Liz Feld is concerned—I’m surprised if she doens’t start hearing from her Larchmont/Mamaroneck school district constituents about her careless attack on our public school system—par. Policymakers and candidates for policymaking jobs are disengenuous when they advocate for the tax cap and say that they’ll deal with the underlying causes of high property taxes later.
capping school taxes is not disengenous unless you are
a teacher or administrator and feel your exorbitant
benefits and pensions are in jeopardy..school systems
have been drunken sailors when it comes to how they
spend money…and it has to stop..fortunately governor
paterson understands this all too well but suzi oppenheimer
doesn’t understand that runaway property taxes are killing
home values in lower westchester…and that the teachers
union has been dictating the agenda for way too long
Ditto, well said, and irrefutable.
The true silent majority are the moderates who are pretty sick and tired of hearing conservatives complaining and showing off their anger at every opportunity. The tax cappers are pandering to those who are not merely angry with their tax bill, but rather, hate government. They are Republicans who can’t win elections any more in NYS, because the tide – and the voting population – has turned against ‘em. So now they want 55% or 60% of the people to vote for a school tax, because they can’t muster 50% + 1 votes to defeat the school budgets they don’t like.
And they control the blogs…
that is a cop out ..not only are republicans sick of property taxes but independents and moderate democrats
are tired of the liberal mantra..”the schools need more”
actually the schools have quite enough…and the teachers
are getting paid enormous salaries and huge pensions
and huge health care benefits…you try to casts this
as a partisan issue..it is a fiscal issue and
liberals are hardly fiscally responsible and neither
are you