Reply With QuoteI had three children attend the Lancaster District school system. I respect and commend the great majority of teachers for their efforts and commitment to help children learn. We have an excellent school system – in total.All things considered - 4248
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Lancaster High School Teachers have helped not only my children but hundreds if not thousands - to prepare for their futures.
I spoke with many students who have repeatedly replied in the same fashion - "The Teachers care - they go out of their way to help us learn - they are always there for us."
Both my two children/young adults graduated Lancaster High School. Thank You !
Agree, but had it not been for the school district squirreling away some of excessive state aid dollars it received the district would not have had the $5 million in reserve mony used last year and the $5.3 million to reduce the 2011-12 budget.That said - I believe the Administration of the High School and use of our tax dollars have been less than stellar - budgets have routinely been inflated - and budget lines manipulated as to always favor raising taxes and inflating reserves which are then hidden from view.
Agree, however, you may find the following of interest. My town tax bill has increased 35% since the 2004 budget while my school tax has remained relatively flat. It will not be that way with the school taxes a the 2011-12 budget increases taxes by 8.78%. The federal and state money trees have been chopped down.It appears the Town Board and School Admin have through out the years used the same record keeping strategies. The Lancaster IDA which uses Lancaster's Finance Officer Mr.Brown from Supervisor Giza's staff is also using incorrect or deceptive number manipulations.
You have information I do not posses.Lancaster's one Party Rule tax funded contributor written feel good audits must come to an end. State Agencies have been "hampered" - and interfered with while trying to complete in depth audits.
You have information I do not possess.The NY State Comptrollers Office has found sloppy, incomplete record keeping, lack of proper documentation and even incorrect land values used to calculate IDA Tax Relief for certain projects under the PILOT programs(Chairman Bob Giza).
People would most likely not point their fingers at the public sector employees if they did not express and whine (as the teachers and their union have these past two years during contract negotiations) that they are underpaid while failing to consider what their entire compensation package consists of and that they fair pretty well off – especially at retirement time and where they pay no taxes on their retirement pay.Its time to stop pointing fingers at employees when its the overall tax supported structure and practices of Lancaster's Government that causes tax payers to continually pay more than their fair share.
Yes, taxpayers are paying more than their fair share, especially those who never had a child in school.
Patio and townhome owners in Lancaster get 40% tax breaks because of 339-y Condo Law consideration. The mainstay of the reasoning professed by builders and the AG office is that such homes are purchased by “empty nesters” – homeowners without children.
Number one, that is nonsense. Number two, what does that say for the empty nesters that have homes that don’t fit the 339-y criteria. Is this fair and equitable? Why is the assessment not based on 100% market value based on sales like all the other homes? Call the Assessor of any municipality and ask him or her on whether they think the 40% tax break is fair/equitable. Yet not one political can get a bill to the floor of the Senate – as was promised and intended on several previous occasions.
The entire freaken system is broken 4248, and you know it as well as I. And the public keeps voting in the same people back into office 97% of the time and expect to see change.
As a “blank” I will not be on the receiving end of the upcoming campaign literature from the two major parties. That is sad because I would like to see what the incumbents have to crow about and read what solutions the challengers have to right the wrong. Hope they stay out of the mud and think about the best interests of the community.
