Taxed To The Max: School Tax Expected To Boost Residential Taxes

Remember a time when neighbourhoods like Levittown, Hicksville, and Roosevelt were “affordable” to young couples, families, and even retirees where were on a fixed budget?

Well, it seems that affordable housing is quickly becoming a thing of the past here on Long Island as cost of living pushes it to the wayside.

The most current “offense” against Long Island residents is a measure, by the state-run Roosevelt school district, calling for a 7 percent increase in the average Roosevelt homeowner’s tax bill in the next year; a figure that’s double the inflation rate, as the district attempts to deal with a projected deficit of $9.5 million.

According to officials, the district’s tax levy, a figure that’s the result of local property taxes is expected t rise 13.2 percent, but officials suggest that this number will be balances out via the district raising more funds that they’d budgeted for.

Still, residents are “revolted”, especially since they were already hit with a tax hike of over 9 percent. And, the recent tax sting is expected to be achieved via cuts in services and perhaps some teacher layoffs. As a result the district suggests also reducing spending by nearly $3 million from this year’s budget, which went over in spending.

Just recently the board approves a $63.7 million proposal for the next year that will be voted on in the next month. Additionally, the spending plan is slated at $604,000 more than the current year’s budget, but the district is expected to close out this school year with total spending of 466.4 million due to overspending.

And, now it looks like local residents will be footing the bill as the district suggest raising property tax from $17.1 million to $19.4 million, a 13.2 percent hike. And, that translates into a 7.01 percent increase per household.