Property Taxes Still a Concern in Huntington

As Marjorie Waxenberg’s children have grown, the Huntington resident’s patience with ever-rising property taxes has grown thin. She’s not alone.

School budgets passed by wide margins in both Huntington districts this year, but not without a fight, a union walkout and demands for union givebacks. Teachers were frequent targets of voter anger.

“I want to see [teacher salaries] come down," Waxenberg said. "I want to see them do something to force them to, when they hire new teachers, not give them these outrageous increases. It’s like a pyramid scheme. The kids are losing out; the teachers say it’s for the kids and it’s not. It’s for the teachers. Some of them are good, some are terrible. Some are just riding the gravy train."

But Libertarian Peter Nichols said blaming teachers is the easy way out. He says the whole system needs to be overhauled.

"Someone needs to put a stop to the unfunded mandates that state legislators force the local governments to pay through the collection of property taxes," Nichols said, adding that homeowners can't handle the ever-growing weight of property taxes.

Terri Black, who has school-age children in Huntington schools, said she supported the budget, even though some of the cuts would be painful.

The board is "doing their best with the economy the way it is," Black said. "I'm not wild with half-day kindergarten for people, but I think they tried their best to keep the damage to a miminum in the cuts."

President led the charge to keep the district's tax rate in check throughout the budget process. Dwyer warned his fellow board members that steep tax increases would lead to strong voter backlash.

“The fact of the matter is, people have grown tired of never-ending tax increases,” Dwyer said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tax cap proposal also resonated with Long Islanders, who are among the most highly taxed homeowners in the nation. Dwyer did his best to match the proposed 2 percent tax cap. But it was not enough to save his job in what turned out to be one of the most painful school budgets in recent memory. 

Dwyer lost his re-election bid while voters by a 2-to-1 margin in May, accepting a modest 3.1 percent rate hike made possible only through service cuts and layoffs.

Residents had little sympathy. It's all about holding the line on costs, said Huntington parent Marita Eybergen, who voted for the budget despite reservations.

"We have to be realistic about our spending and stop being frivolous in our spending and spend where it is important," Eybergen said. "When it comes to schools, we need to really cut the spending on high salaries to teachers and administrators and focus on what is important to our children."