Greetings!
After just celebrating a blues festival (which, of course, helped raised money for "Superstorm" Sandy victims), we have another situation that's a little less...Pleasant. Call this a "by request" article if you want, but you also know by now that cancer and I have a very unpleasant history. My mother, Joanne Pohlman (Maiden name Alfano), a native Freeporter as I am, died about six years ago from it. So, here's the skinny:
Freeport native Joseph G was diagnosed last night with Stage 3 Testicular Cancer, which has already spread to his lymphatic system. This is not the best news; medical bills as well as the difficulty of cancer treatment as a whole add up to a real problem.
So, other Freeporters and friends of ours have put together a fund-raiser for him. It will be on Friday, August 16th at the Twisted Shamrock; it's located at 11 Railroad Avenue in Babylon, NY. There's a $7 cover at the door, with music starting at 9:30, including raffles, prizes and cupcakes!
LIVE Music will be provided by And The Day Is Mine, Mike Miller And The High Life, and many others! Additionally, www.stupidcancer.org is going to donate some goodies for prizes. So, I know it's a bit out-of-the-way, but support a Freeporter in their fight against this rather shitty disease.
You can find out more information about this event at its Facebook page! That includes a link you can donate to, in the event you can't make it but still want to contribute. Thank you all!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
TWF 209: Freeport School Budget and Trustee Vote, May 21st, 2013!
Greetings, Freeport,
Allow me to post the 'ol Editorial Disclaimer: Jesse Pohlman is a full-time employee of the Freeport Public Schools.
So, let's start at the start: Tomorrow is "election day," wherein voters in the Freeport School District vote to adopt the budget, the library budget, and also vote for trustees on the school board. You just need to stroll down to your local polling place before 9:00 PM tomorrow night. Here's the breakdown step-by-step:
School Budget
You can find all the information you need, here:
http://www.freeportschools.org/Assets/1314_Budget/13budget_freeport_nl.pdf
Editorial Note: Jesse Pohlman's part-time second job as Assistant Coach for the FHS Boys Swim Team is one of the 29.5 positions cut out of this budget.
The tax increase is within New York State's "tax cap" limits, and preserves most of the academic programs required by NYS. And, yes, our finances have historically been pretty strong - until the great economic crash of 2008, we were cutting taxes and increasing programs. At a budget meeting I attended this year, I recall the speaker notifying those in attendance that the school Administration has taken their raises for this year, a significant chunk of change, but that the primary driver of our fiscal doldrums is, yet again, New York State. This isn't untrue, for three reasons - only two of which were pointed out in the meeting. (Aside: you may visit "See Through NY" to see what all public employees within the state make.)
First, NYS "restores" state aid on a regular basis, but this is aid that it chooses not to give us in the first place. According to our representative, this region of the state educates 17% of its children, but receives 12% of the educational funding from the "pot" of tax revenue that the state takes. Second, the cost of retirement plans have been shifted from the state to the districts; this was done without proper planning, so the districts have little help in paying for that. This factor alone soaked up most of the actual tax increase the budget calls for.
Third, most important and least addressed, is the fact that Long Island's tax base has been broken by a series of natural disasters. Any house south of Atlantic Avenue isn't worth what it was before Hurricane Sandy - period. But property taxes depend on assessed values! The answer I received to my question about tax assessments was simple: If assessments are challenged, it was explained, then the tax cost will simply be shifted to others in the form of overall tax increases. If this sounds familiar, it's because that was Mayor Andrew Hardwick's plan to deal with this assessment problem; and, if you ignore New York State, then yes - that's the only fair way out.
This publication, however, has consistently refused to believe that this is an inevitable fate. If this were the only answer, we would be best served by both the school and Village governments declaring bankruptcy today. High taxes have already severely damaged the economic viability of Nassau County as a whole; to continue to raise them, especially on those with no collateral (I.E. Property Values) with which to pay, will certainly cause those who can afford to take losses on their initial investments to leave. It will create an economic black hole which will make the district's finances entirely unsustainable. Taxes go up, more people leave, so more taxes are heaped on those who are left. Folks, this is avoidable. I've already pointed out what we need to do, and that's get our money back from New York State. And, no, we cannot rely on just our politicians to do this for us. And we cannot hold one year's budget accountable for these nightmarish circumstances - we have to act.
So, if you're looking for a, "how do we vote on this budget," then you don't know The Weekly Freeporter. We don't tell people how to vote, and we don't endorse candidates. My argument here isn't that you should, or should not vote for it. You decide that based on the virtues of the situation! I'm simply here to tell you what the vote is about, and what I've been told by School officials. And, of course, to encourage you to get out and engage in the voting process - whether or not you vote yes, or no!
Trustee Elections
Running once again is Michael Pomerico, returning incumbent; he's joined by Anthony Miller, who nabbed a spot finishing out a previous trustee's term and hopes to take over his own. Pamela Bierra-Anderson and Joseph Bonilla are running as a team, and are (surprisingly enough!) backed by the Freeport Teachers Association. Diane Jackson is also running, seemingly supported by our former Mayor Hardwick. Finally, I've seen signs for Jorge Heras, who ran in the previous election and is giving it another crack! I'm also told there's a Mr. Grossman running, but I haven't heard much of him. It's a wide field! More could even be in the woodwork!
Once again, no; there's no endorsements here. My only suggestion is that you vote - and, perhaps, that you vote for someone who you believe, for whatever reason, will take the fight to Albany to get our money back.
That is the real key to this argument, here: Not one year's budget, or even three years. Look five years down the road. Tell me where we are if we simply break even - never mind experiencing another storm half as vicious as Sandy (which, considering we dealt with Irene the year before, seems to be at least a 50/50 chance). If we don't get tax equity from NYS, then all the budget elections in the world won't change the fact that our state is taking away our ability to run our schools.
And, as I've mentioned before, if all the state plans to do is use us as a piggy bank for upstate NY, as much as I love upstate NY, why do we stick around?
Allow me to post the 'ol Editorial Disclaimer: Jesse Pohlman is a full-time employee of the Freeport Public Schools.
So, let's start at the start: Tomorrow is "election day," wherein voters in the Freeport School District vote to adopt the budget, the library budget, and also vote for trustees on the school board. You just need to stroll down to your local polling place before 9:00 PM tomorrow night. Here's the breakdown step-by-step:
School Budget
You can find all the information you need, here:
http://www.freeportschools.org/Assets/1314_Budget/13budget_freeport_nl.pdf
Editorial Note: Jesse Pohlman's part-time second job as Assistant Coach for the FHS Boys Swim Team is one of the 29.5 positions cut out of this budget.
The tax increase is within New York State's "tax cap" limits, and preserves most of the academic programs required by NYS. And, yes, our finances have historically been pretty strong - until the great economic crash of 2008, we were cutting taxes and increasing programs. At a budget meeting I attended this year, I recall the speaker notifying those in attendance that the school Administration has taken their raises for this year, a significant chunk of change, but that the primary driver of our fiscal doldrums is, yet again, New York State. This isn't untrue, for three reasons - only two of which were pointed out in the meeting. (Aside: you may visit "See Through NY" to see what all public employees within the state make.)
First, NYS "restores" state aid on a regular basis, but this is aid that it chooses not to give us in the first place. According to our representative, this region of the state educates 17% of its children, but receives 12% of the educational funding from the "pot" of tax revenue that the state takes. Second, the cost of retirement plans have been shifted from the state to the districts; this was done without proper planning, so the districts have little help in paying for that. This factor alone soaked up most of the actual tax increase the budget calls for.
Third, most important and least addressed, is the fact that Long Island's tax base has been broken by a series of natural disasters. Any house south of Atlantic Avenue isn't worth what it was before Hurricane Sandy - period. But property taxes depend on assessed values! The answer I received to my question about tax assessments was simple: If assessments are challenged, it was explained, then the tax cost will simply be shifted to others in the form of overall tax increases. If this sounds familiar, it's because that was Mayor Andrew Hardwick's plan to deal with this assessment problem; and, if you ignore New York State, then yes - that's the only fair way out.
This publication, however, has consistently refused to believe that this is an inevitable fate. If this were the only answer, we would be best served by both the school and Village governments declaring bankruptcy today. High taxes have already severely damaged the economic viability of Nassau County as a whole; to continue to raise them, especially on those with no collateral (I.E. Property Values) with which to pay, will certainly cause those who can afford to take losses on their initial investments to leave. It will create an economic black hole which will make the district's finances entirely unsustainable. Taxes go up, more people leave, so more taxes are heaped on those who are left. Folks, this is avoidable. I've already pointed out what we need to do, and that's get our money back from New York State. And, no, we cannot rely on just our politicians to do this for us. And we cannot hold one year's budget accountable for these nightmarish circumstances - we have to act.
So, if you're looking for a, "how do we vote on this budget," then you don't know The Weekly Freeporter. We don't tell people how to vote, and we don't endorse candidates. My argument here isn't that you should, or should not vote for it. You decide that based on the virtues of the situation! I'm simply here to tell you what the vote is about, and what I've been told by School officials. And, of course, to encourage you to get out and engage in the voting process - whether or not you vote yes, or no!
Trustee Elections
Running once again is Michael Pomerico, returning incumbent; he's joined by Anthony Miller, who nabbed a spot finishing out a previous trustee's term and hopes to take over his own. Pamela Bierra-Anderson and Joseph Bonilla are running as a team, and are (surprisingly enough!) backed by the Freeport Teachers Association. Diane Jackson is also running, seemingly supported by our former Mayor Hardwick. Finally, I've seen signs for Jorge Heras, who ran in the previous election and is giving it another crack! I'm also told there's a Mr. Grossman running, but I haven't heard much of him. It's a wide field! More could even be in the woodwork!
Once again, no; there's no endorsements here. My only suggestion is that you vote - and, perhaps, that you vote for someone who you believe, for whatever reason, will take the fight to Albany to get our money back.
That is the real key to this argument, here: Not one year's budget, or even three years. Look five years down the road. Tell me where we are if we simply break even - never mind experiencing another storm half as vicious as Sandy (which, considering we dealt with Irene the year before, seems to be at least a 50/50 chance). If we don't get tax equity from NYS, then all the budget elections in the world won't change the fact that our state is taking away our ability to run our schools.
And, as I've mentioned before, if all the state plans to do is use us as a piggy bank for upstate NY, as much as I love upstate NY, why do we stick around?
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
TWF 208: Sandy Responder Fundraiser, May 3rd, 2013, @ The Patio!
Hello, Freeport!
This coming Friday evening, on May 3rd, the Friends of Freeport are hosting a Sandy Responder Appreciation Night and Fundraiser! It will be at The Patio, and it's $35 a person for a plate, with all proceeds going to the Friends of Freeport charity!
Yep! So join us on May 3rd at The Patio; show your support of our first responders, enjoy the open bar (that means free booze), and if all else fails take a crack at winning some free reading material, or other great prizes like restaurant gift cards! See you there!
This coming Friday evening, on May 3rd, the Friends of Freeport are hosting a Sandy Responder Appreciation Night and Fundraiser! It will be at The Patio, and it's $35 a person for a plate, with all proceeds going to the Friends of Freeport charity!
Now, I've talked about Friends of Freeport before. They have this habit of locating Freeporters who need help in rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy and, y'know, helping them. Like friends would! They gut houses, they help put them back together again, and they donate a bucket-load of time and effort. To help raise funds, and to show appreciation to those who answered the call of duty during the "Superstorm" (Which I will always call a Hurricane, because I remember that's what it hit land as), and to help continue their renovation efforts, they're holding an open bar event with a DJ, 50/50 raffle tickets (inquire on their Facebook page!), and door prizes given away through raffles!
So I donated $50 worth of autographed books; all of my in-print works, up to and including my latest 5-star reviewed paperback novel Physics Incarnate! Here's a picture of me with Debbie from Friends of Freeport, because that's what journalists would want to show off, because readers supposedly enjoy such things!
Yep! So join us on May 3rd at The Patio; show your support of our first responders, enjoy the open bar (that means free booze), and if all else fails take a crack at winning some free reading material, or other great prizes like restaurant gift cards! See you there!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
TWF 205: Freeport Actress Justine Cotsonas in "Double Crossed!"
Hey, Freeport,
First of all, let me just say that, no, I wasn't really bought out by The Patch. I wish! I used them as an April Fools Joke because, frankly, there is no reason The Patch doesn't have an outpost in Freeport. We're twice as populated at Merrick, pretty much, but we don't have one. Why? Cuz we're not "gentrified" enough, is my guess. But maybe you can prove me wrong! Maybe you can mail their administration, or something; tell them I would make a great professional journalist, getting paid to make a real Freeport newsletter or something...
ANYWAY!
Freeport Actress Justine Cotsonas in a new web series!
In keeping up with Freeport artists and actresses, Justine Cotsonas - a high school friend of mine who has seen action on As The World Turns, as well as Law and Order SVU - is featured in a new online series called "Double Crossed." She's got second billing, which is a pretty big deal considering the series has already gone on for three episodes. I'd encourage everyone to check it out and support her latest career move - we've shown a lot of mutual support in the community, recently, and let's keep it up!
I've always made a habit out of supporting the Freeport artists I know and grew up with, but I know there are plenty more, out there! Do you have a band that's doing a gig? Let me know! Are you a performer in a theater? Hey, I'm in! Did you write a book, lately, and want to spread the news? Well, I don't mind promoting my competition! *wink*
So, congrats to Justine for having an awesome new role, and congrats to Freeport for having such bona-fides in the art world!
First of all, let me just say that, no, I wasn't really bought out by The Patch. I wish! I used them as an April Fools Joke because, frankly, there is no reason The Patch doesn't have an outpost in Freeport. We're twice as populated at Merrick, pretty much, but we don't have one. Why? Cuz we're not "gentrified" enough, is my guess. But maybe you can prove me wrong! Maybe you can mail their administration, or something; tell them I would make a great professional journalist, getting paid to make a real Freeport newsletter or something...
ANYWAY!
Freeport Actress Justine Cotsonas in a new web series!
In keeping up with Freeport artists and actresses, Justine Cotsonas - a high school friend of mine who has seen action on As The World Turns, as well as Law and Order SVU - is featured in a new online series called "Double Crossed." She's got second billing, which is a pretty big deal considering the series has already gone on for three episodes. I'd encourage everyone to check it out and support her latest career move - we've shown a lot of mutual support in the community, recently, and let's keep it up!
 |
| Image courtesy of Facebook |
So, congrats to Justine for having an awesome new role, and congrats to Freeport for having such bona-fides in the art world!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Rich Cantwell, of Friends of Freeport, on WDVR!
Hello, Freeport,
This is just a short little post (I've been encouraged to do short ones!) to bring my readers up to date on a particularly awesome group that's getting a lot of well-deserved recognition. Friends of Freeport formed up after Superstorm Sandy rolled through. They have been going around every weekend and ripping out peoples' houses, or fixing them up, or whatever they can do to help rebuild after the storm. This is, of course, months after the storm rolled through - indicative of just how little help our area has gotten.
Rich Cantwell is one of the ringleaders of this here posse, and he was interviewed by another Freeport fellow, on WDVR. WDVR is located in Delaware, actually, and we have some audio recordings thanks to Barry Goodman. (Here's hoping the link works!)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151419202383611
The conversation is pretty serious and intense. They touch on topics like how the Friends have to manage grant money (Rich in particular), and how they decide who gets repaired when, and how that can build up a lot of stress. So, good on them!
I've linked you to the video, and I've linked you to the Facebook page. I encourage you to find out about them, and see what you can do to help!
This is just a short little post (I've been encouraged to do short ones!) to bring my readers up to date on a particularly awesome group that's getting a lot of well-deserved recognition. Friends of Freeport formed up after Superstorm Sandy rolled through. They have been going around every weekend and ripping out peoples' houses, or fixing them up, or whatever they can do to help rebuild after the storm. This is, of course, months after the storm rolled through - indicative of just how little help our area has gotten.
Rich Cantwell is one of the ringleaders of this here posse, and he was interviewed by another Freeport fellow, on WDVR. WDVR is located in Delaware, actually, and we have some audio recordings thanks to Barry Goodman. (Here's hoping the link works!)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151419202383611
The conversation is pretty serious and intense. They touch on topics like how the Friends have to manage grant money (Rich in particular), and how they decide who gets repaired when, and how that can build up a lot of stress. So, good on them!
I've linked you to the video, and I've linked you to the Facebook page. I encourage you to find out about them, and see what you can do to help!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
TWF 202: Mayor Elections Over! UHR Victory!
Greetings Freeport,
I'm in little shape to write at the moment, as I've had quite a long, long day. And yesterday. So, here's my best, "post-then-pass-out" shot:
A semi-live tally was provided by the Unity/Home-Rule Party, indicating the results of the election. The banner in question has shifted to "Freeport is Free!," implying a victory! They've provided a finalized tally which reads as follows:
Freeport Mayor
Andrew Hardwick: 3882 Votes
Robert Kennedy: 4397 Votes (Winner)
Freeport Trustee (Top-Two)
James Caracciolo: 3,579
Annette Dennis: 3,601
Ronald Ellerbe: 4,469 (Winner)
Carmen Pinyero: 4,526 (Winner)
Freeport Judge
Roy Cacciatore: 4,151 (Winner)
Stephen Drummond: 3,931
Results Matter
Assuming these numbers are unchallenged (they seem fairly decisive in that Mr. Kennedy has a 500-vote margin according to them), and are legitimate, well, Freeport has chosen. All listed winners are from the Unity/Home-Rule Party. It's late. I'm sleepy. I could sit back and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each campaign and what led it to where it is, today, but I'm sleepy.
I know I'm not your first source of news on this (I'm reacting to news, myself!), but I figured I should put forth the numbers I've seen and make sure they check out. If they do? Well, I want to congratulate the winners, and I want to thank those who lost for their efforts. Being part of this process is hard - and most of all, I want to thank you, the voter. I will admit, if you add the mayoral votes together you get 8,279. That's a pretty huge turnout for Freeport; in a town of 45,000 people, well, we had nearly 20% of the community vote! That's better than in most recent elections, but it's still pretty low if you ask me, and it's one of the things that our next mayor will have to work on in the next four years - bringing power to this process known as "Democracy," lest it be stripped away from us.
Oh. And I'll come up with some other inanely-rambled "things Mayor (Whoever but probably Kennedy) must do in the next four years" to fill up an article soon.
Farewell, Freeport, and goodnight!
I'm in little shape to write at the moment, as I've had quite a long, long day. And yesterday. So, here's my best, "post-then-pass-out" shot:
A semi-live tally was provided by the Unity/Home-Rule Party, indicating the results of the election. The banner in question has shifted to "Freeport is Free!," implying a victory! They've provided a finalized tally which reads as follows:
Freeport Mayor
Andrew Hardwick: 3882 Votes
Robert Kennedy: 4397 Votes (Winner)
Freeport Trustee (Top-Two)
James Caracciolo: 3,579
Annette Dennis: 3,601
Ronald Ellerbe: 4,469 (Winner)
Carmen Pinyero: 4,526 (Winner)
Freeport Judge
Roy Cacciatore: 4,151 (Winner)
Stephen Drummond: 3,931
Results Matter
Assuming these numbers are unchallenged (they seem fairly decisive in that Mr. Kennedy has a 500-vote margin according to them), and are legitimate, well, Freeport has chosen. All listed winners are from the Unity/Home-Rule Party. It's late. I'm sleepy. I could sit back and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each campaign and what led it to where it is, today, but I'm sleepy.
I know I'm not your first source of news on this (I'm reacting to news, myself!), but I figured I should put forth the numbers I've seen and make sure they check out. If they do? Well, I want to congratulate the winners, and I want to thank those who lost for their efforts. Being part of this process is hard - and most of all, I want to thank you, the voter. I will admit, if you add the mayoral votes together you get 8,279. That's a pretty huge turnout for Freeport; in a town of 45,000 people, well, we had nearly 20% of the community vote! That's better than in most recent elections, but it's still pretty low if you ask me, and it's one of the things that our next mayor will have to work on in the next four years - bringing power to this process known as "Democracy," lest it be stripped away from us.
Oh. And I'll come up with some other inanely-rambled "things Mayor (Whoever but probably Kennedy) must do in the next four years" to fill up an article soon.
Farewell, Freeport, and goodnight!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Fixing the Property Tax Problem Post-Sandy
Greetings, Freeport!
I hope we're all enjoying the snowy weather? I know, it's scary - an actual winter! But I'm here to talk about something different. A few days ago I asked, via Facebook, if people would like me to write an article talking about property tax; particularly in Sandy's aftermath. I've done this sort of thing before, and I am going to refer back to it, so keep this link handy. However, I'll gladly excerpt the most impact-laden statement I made:
Why am I referring to NYC? Because the same phenomenon that Mr. Bloomberg refers to - tax disparity - threatens once again to crush Freeport.
Property Taxes: Local And State
Let's get this out of the way: One, I'm not a tax lawyer, and I can be wrong on -any- part of this; I'm just trying to give an overview of how I've always understood taxes to work. Two, we pay school and Village taxes based generally on the assessed value of our property. What's an assessment? Generally speaking, someone from the government comes, takes a look at your property (including factors like surrounding properties' condition, school effectiveness, whatever a potential home-buyer would look at) and assigns your property a value.
So, for the sake of argument, let's say that they decide your property is worth $200,000. Also, if you live in an apartment, you may not pay these taxes - your landlord does, and he passes the cost on to you, naturally!
Now, based on your assessed value, you are taxed at whatever rate you're taxed at. 5%, 7%, whatever taxes happen to be. When you hear about tax increases, you are not typically seeing your taxes raise by whatever percentage of your assessed valuation it is. A 10% tax increase to 10% does not mean you now pay 20%; it means taxes go up by 10% of 10, or a total of 1% assessed valuation; to a new high of 11%. We typically hear about this second number, the percentage increase from the previous year, and it can sound deceptively high. So 10% of $200,000 is $20,000/year in taxes; if that sounds ridiculously high, that's because it is. I just used 10% for ease-of-math.
I also invite actual tax experts to post in the comments section, or on our facebook page (either-or) about how this stuff actually works. Correct me if I'm wrong, if you're a professional in this area.
Now, this was just a quick over-view. I wanna get into the post-Sandy details, because that's where our problem lies. Remember what Mr. Bloomberg said.
Post-Sandy Tax Rise in Freeport
Okay. We just had a massive hurricane come and rip our town apart. Consequently, our Village has spent an extraordinary amount of money on recovery, and it's going to need more. Typically, when governments need money, they...What, folks? Raise taxes? Yes! It pays for things like, I dunno, "Rebuilding the fucking town!" If you're curious, I remember Mr. Bloomberg saying something very similar, only with less emphasis.
HOWEVER!!!
Where is this money supposed to come from? In case you've been asleep, or you're a tax official, a good chunk of Freeport just slipped under the ocean. This is both literal and metaphoric; everything south of Atlantic Avenue was pretty much under-water during Sandy, right? Sandy is not unique. True, it's the worst we've had in more than fifty years, but let's be realistic - Hurricane Irene, last year, could have been Sandy. We could have had two Sandys in two years.
Let's pause a moment to reflect on "assessed valuation."
Your assessment is based on what your property can sell for on the open market, correct? Here's a simple fucking question from someone whose flooded basement is on the internet: Who, in their right mind, is going to buy a home south of Atlantic Avenue in Freeport when next year could easily bring another massive flood, wiping out everything you own!? In fact, let's do a quick tally; Within easy viewing distance of my home, three houses were condemned after Sandy. Property values? You must be joking. Overnight, Sandy destroyed whatever property values my home and others might have had. There is no way that the previous dollar values are accurate, and naturally there are people fighting to have their assessed valuations reduced. Why?
Because the property isn't worth anything, really, if it can be washed away overnight.
Where Can The Money Come From?
Now, let's move on to the next point. Andrew Hardwick, our nigh-infamous mayor, spoke to the New York Times. Here's what he said:
Let's get this out of the way: Technically speaking, without paying attention to anything but the numbers, he's correct. Factually speaking, he is correct. Yes, if people get re-assessed and the Village needs money, it will simply raise taxes on everyone to make up the difference. So that's it, we're fucked, we're debt slaves in Freeport, living in houses that aren't worth a tenth of what the government thinks they are; but we can't re-assess because otherwise we'll just get taxed more, and nobody'll even buy our house if we want to move out! And that's it, right?
Why have I been talking about Michael Bloomberg so much?
Long Island and NYC have just been decimated, right? Well, historically, we have given New York State's government far more in tax revenue than we have received. Mr. Bloomberg himself said that in one year, the difference for NYC alone was $11 billion. What if, instead, NYC got to keep that? Can you imagine if, instead of bleeding $11 billion a year, NYC just broke even? Can you imagine $11 billion in tax revenue retained by New York City? Can you, then, extrapolate how much we would save if we were entitled to a similar scheme?
Never mind the state actually giving us a net surplus - just imagine if we kept our money! Money that, in the article wayyy above, I'd heard has gone as far as fourteen cents to the dollar? Meaning, by the way, that for every $1 in state taxes we paid, we got back $.14? Meaning we'd have over five times the money we usually do from NYS?
Are you picturing it? Yes? Good, because I'm about to blow your mind:
The Federal Government.
That's the answer, Mr. Hardwick. Our state can help us recover, but how do we prevent this from happening again? Easy! We get the Feds involved. The scary part is that they've already been involved, a little. The scarier part is dumbasses like Republican Stephen Palazzo, a Mississippi congressman who begged for Hurricane Katrina relief, refused to vote for us to get aid because of the federal debt being too high. Mr. Palazzo has since been roundly slapped up by the media, has toured our region, and has come to his damned senses, agreeing to vote for us to get some help.
I could get into an argument about the federal debt, but that's not why I'm here. Suffice to say that its a problem, but not one solved by leaving us screwed.
Instead, the Feds need to pitch in and do some basic disaster mitigation. In fact, the next time a Freeport mayor feels like globe-trotting, said mayor should visit The Netherlands and study their Delta Works project. Isn't it amazing how modern technology can allow a nation, virtually below sea level, to protect itself from floods? Why don't we have that?! Because it would cost money?! This is what taxes are for. Not wars in Libya/Mali/Wherever, not crusades for or against gay marriage, not even health care plans! Who cares about health care if your town is under water?!
I digress. The point of this article isn't to talk about ways to protect our Village, Long Island, NYC, and our entire region in general from another major flood. The sad truth is that, if global sea levels continue to rise, our town might be doomed fifty years from now no matter what we do. That's too large an argument for me to try to make, here.
The point is that we shouldn't be fighting over raising taxes, versus getting re-assessments on property, versus having to lose services. For far too long, our area has given New York State a glut of money to invest in boondocks and border-regions alike. And that's what taxes are for, folks - investments in public works! But, now, we're the ones in need. We're the ones who need lower taxes and more services - and we need it badly. And as much as I love my "We Survived Sandy" magnet, that's chump change compared to the long-term help we need.
We need to organize, to petition our state and federal government, and demand an immediate resolution of our problems. I feel so strongly about this that I would rather see Long Island and/or NYC as its own state then continue to feed the rest of New York State if we don't get aid, now, and I love New York. I really do! But it's time for them to fulfill their end of this taxation bargain, and if they don't then they need to know they will have to deal with We, The People.
I hope we're all enjoying the snowy weather? I know, it's scary - an actual winter! But I'm here to talk about something different. A few days ago I asked, via Facebook, if people would like me to write an article talking about property tax; particularly in Sandy's aftermath. I've done this sort of thing before, and I am going to refer back to it, so keep this link handy. However, I'll gladly excerpt the most impact-laden statement I made:
"In 2008, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg testified that New York State takes $11 BILLION more in taxes from NYC than the city gets back. So NYC is basically losing eleven billion dollars to the state, as if it were a gift. That money is spent in upstate NY on some very useful - and some very not-useful - projects."
Why am I referring to NYC? Because the same phenomenon that Mr. Bloomberg refers to - tax disparity - threatens once again to crush Freeport.
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| Yes, this is a recycled image. By me, property of Liberty Free Media. |
Property Taxes: Local And State
Let's get this out of the way: One, I'm not a tax lawyer, and I can be wrong on -any- part of this; I'm just trying to give an overview of how I've always understood taxes to work. Two, we pay school and Village taxes based generally on the assessed value of our property. What's an assessment? Generally speaking, someone from the government comes, takes a look at your property (including factors like surrounding properties' condition, school effectiveness, whatever a potential home-buyer would look at) and assigns your property a value.
So, for the sake of argument, let's say that they decide your property is worth $200,000. Also, if you live in an apartment, you may not pay these taxes - your landlord does, and he passes the cost on to you, naturally!
Now, based on your assessed value, you are taxed at whatever rate you're taxed at. 5%, 7%, whatever taxes happen to be. When you hear about tax increases, you are not typically seeing your taxes raise by whatever percentage of your assessed valuation it is. A 10% tax increase to 10% does not mean you now pay 20%; it means taxes go up by 10% of 10, or a total of 1% assessed valuation; to a new high of 11%. We typically hear about this second number, the percentage increase from the previous year, and it can sound deceptively high. So 10% of $200,000 is $20,000/year in taxes; if that sounds ridiculously high, that's because it is. I just used 10% for ease-of-math.
I also invite actual tax experts to post in the comments section, or on our facebook page (either-or) about how this stuff actually works. Correct me if I'm wrong, if you're a professional in this area.
Now, this was just a quick over-view. I wanna get into the post-Sandy details, because that's where our problem lies. Remember what Mr. Bloomberg said.
Post-Sandy Tax Rise in Freeport
Okay. We just had a massive hurricane come and rip our town apart. Consequently, our Village has spent an extraordinary amount of money on recovery, and it's going to need more. Typically, when governments need money, they...What, folks? Raise taxes? Yes! It pays for things like, I dunno, "Rebuilding the fucking town!" If you're curious, I remember Mr. Bloomberg saying something very similar, only with less emphasis.
HOWEVER!!!
Where is this money supposed to come from? In case you've been asleep, or you're a tax official, a good chunk of Freeport just slipped under the ocean. This is both literal and metaphoric; everything south of Atlantic Avenue was pretty much under-water during Sandy, right? Sandy is not unique. True, it's the worst we've had in more than fifty years, but let's be realistic - Hurricane Irene, last year, could have been Sandy. We could have had two Sandys in two years.
Let's pause a moment to reflect on "assessed valuation."
Your assessment is based on what your property can sell for on the open market, correct? Here's a simple fucking question from someone whose flooded basement is on the internet: Who, in their right mind, is going to buy a home south of Atlantic Avenue in Freeport when next year could easily bring another massive flood, wiping out everything you own!? In fact, let's do a quick tally; Within easy viewing distance of my home, three houses were condemned after Sandy. Property values? You must be joking. Overnight, Sandy destroyed whatever property values my home and others might have had. There is no way that the previous dollar values are accurate, and naturally there are people fighting to have their assessed valuations reduced. Why?
Because the property isn't worth anything, really, if it can be washed away overnight.
Where Can The Money Come From?
Now, let's move on to the next point. Andrew Hardwick, our nigh-infamous mayor, spoke to the New York Times. Here's what he said:
"My thing is to encourage property owners to not seek reassessments because you’re going to pay on one end or the other. If too many people seek reassessment and are successful with it, that means, how do you pay the bills on the other end? You raise the taxes again? It doesn’t make sense."
Let's get this out of the way: Technically speaking, without paying attention to anything but the numbers, he's correct. Factually speaking, he is correct. Yes, if people get re-assessed and the Village needs money, it will simply raise taxes on everyone to make up the difference. So that's it, we're fucked, we're debt slaves in Freeport, living in houses that aren't worth a tenth of what the government thinks they are; but we can't re-assess because otherwise we'll just get taxed more, and nobody'll even buy our house if we want to move out! And that's it, right?
Why have I been talking about Michael Bloomberg so much?
Long Island and NYC have just been decimated, right? Well, historically, we have given New York State's government far more in tax revenue than we have received. Mr. Bloomberg himself said that in one year, the difference for NYC alone was $11 billion. What if, instead, NYC got to keep that? Can you imagine if, instead of bleeding $11 billion a year, NYC just broke even? Can you imagine $11 billion in tax revenue retained by New York City? Can you, then, extrapolate how much we would save if we were entitled to a similar scheme?
Never mind the state actually giving us a net surplus - just imagine if we kept our money! Money that, in the article wayyy above, I'd heard has gone as far as fourteen cents to the dollar? Meaning, by the way, that for every $1 in state taxes we paid, we got back $.14? Meaning we'd have over five times the money we usually do from NYS?
Are you picturing it? Yes? Good, because I'm about to blow your mind:
The Federal Government.
That's the answer, Mr. Hardwick. Our state can help us recover, but how do we prevent this from happening again? Easy! We get the Feds involved. The scary part is that they've already been involved, a little. The scarier part is dumbasses like Republican Stephen Palazzo, a Mississippi congressman who begged for Hurricane Katrina relief, refused to vote for us to get aid because of the federal debt being too high. Mr. Palazzo has since been roundly slapped up by the media, has toured our region, and has come to his damned senses, agreeing to vote for us to get some help.
I could get into an argument about the federal debt, but that's not why I'm here. Suffice to say that its a problem, but not one solved by leaving us screwed.
Instead, the Feds need to pitch in and do some basic disaster mitigation. In fact, the next time a Freeport mayor feels like globe-trotting, said mayor should visit The Netherlands and study their Delta Works project. Isn't it amazing how modern technology can allow a nation, virtually below sea level, to protect itself from floods? Why don't we have that?! Because it would cost money?! This is what taxes are for. Not wars in Libya/Mali/Wherever, not crusades for or against gay marriage, not even health care plans! Who cares about health care if your town is under water?!
I digress. The point of this article isn't to talk about ways to protect our Village, Long Island, NYC, and our entire region in general from another major flood. The sad truth is that, if global sea levels continue to rise, our town might be doomed fifty years from now no matter what we do. That's too large an argument for me to try to make, here.
The point is that we shouldn't be fighting over raising taxes, versus getting re-assessments on property, versus having to lose services. For far too long, our area has given New York State a glut of money to invest in boondocks and border-regions alike. And that's what taxes are for, folks - investments in public works! But, now, we're the ones in need. We're the ones who need lower taxes and more services - and we need it badly. And as much as I love my "We Survived Sandy" magnet, that's chump change compared to the long-term help we need.
We need to organize, to petition our state and federal government, and demand an immediate resolution of our problems. I feel so strongly about this that I would rather see Long Island and/or NYC as its own state then continue to feed the rest of New York State if we don't get aid, now, and I love New York. I really do! But it's time for them to fulfill their end of this taxation bargain, and if they don't then they need to know they will have to deal with We, The People.
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