Paying the Bill for Greenburgh

The Westhelp Fiasco Are Valhalla Fields Safe? ALUMNI TOLD TO GO AWAY Paying the Bill for Greenburgh Race is the Issue The Easter Seals Rip Off District Contracts Budget Fraud Welcome Page Contaminated Fields Community Views Replace the Trophies Toxic playgrounds Student Voices The Audit The Padded Budget Taxpayer Groups Unite Against Corruption Cheating for children Which doesn't belong and why Playing for Peanuts Blog it

Greenburgh: 33% of the Students - 21% of the Taxes

Documents recently released by the Valhalla School district, under a Freedom of Information request reveal the following:

  • The Greenburgh section of the district accounts for 33% of the student population but only pays 21% of the tax burden.
  • The North White Plains Section accounts for 21% of the student population but pays 33% of the tax burden
  • Greenburgh residents pay $15,455 per student for the 504 Greenburgh students attending Valhalla Schools
  • Mt. Pleasant residents pay $25,377 per student for the 672 Mt Pleasant students attending Valhalla Schools
  • North White Plains residents pay $35,095 per student for the 337 North White students attending Valhalla Schools. 

North White Plains and Mt. Pleasant are subsidizing Greenburgh!  Greenburgh is happy to raise North White Plains Mt. Pleasant taxes every year because Greenburgh is not paying its fair share.  Greenburgh alone votes yes for every budget and now we know why.  Greenburgh pays less than half of what North White pays and only 60%  of what Mt. Pleasant pays per student.  Yet, when it comes to the $650,000 WestHelp money, Greenburgh keeps a tight hold, directing how it is spent, what it can't be spent on (sports, a track) who should be hired ($50,000 to their favorite principal as a part time job in addition to his $150,000 full time principal's contract).  The Westhelp partnership directs this annual $650,000 off-budget slush fund to run a side business at the expense of school district accounts and resources, does not report to the public and is entirely unaccountable.  They claim it is all legal, but legal or not it is unethical to pay so little for your students education and then claim so much control over a fund used at your discretion. 

The district has real needs. We need a new track.  The contaminated fill must be removed.  We are told the roof of the high school needs major work.  Instead of addressing these real needs, this $6.5 million slush fund is being used to pay vendors like Dove Yacht Charters for adult cruises on the Hudson.  Payments that are paid out of the district's operating account, checks are are signed by district personnel.  Because it is not in the private interest of the WestHelp partnership, our kids are denied a track and are bussed to the armory in Manhattan to run.   Because the Westhelp partnership is not elected or accountable the opportunity for misuse and corruption is there and needs to be addressed.  It is too easy to fund pet projects, and excusions that interest an inner circle.  The fact that for two years trips funded by this money are pre-booked before they are announced to the public at large indicates that it is being used to further private agendas.   

Meanwhile those of us in Mount Pleasant and North White Plains are expected to pick up the tab for what Greenburgh underpays in taxes.  This is unethical and corrupt situation in a school district known as the most unethical and corrupt in Westchester County.  Valhalla was cited for more illegal acts by the State Comptroller than was Eastchester and Greenburgh.  We illegally avoided a public vote, illegally bought an artificial turf field, illegally created a dump on school property on the border of the reservoir.  We have caught the district throwing Christmas Party at the Travellers Rest, caught them using the district's non profit postage for a private mailing caught them padding the contingent budget and inflating the annual enrollment projections to inflate the budget.  We don't need another slush fund especially one controlled by unelected and unaccountable private interests.        

The Equalization Rate

There is nothing equalizing about the equalization rate.  Taxpayers should understand that every year the State of New York  issues a rate that effectively distributes the entire school tax burden between the three towns.  While the intended purpose of this rate is to bring diverse assessments in line with each other, this never happens.  North White Plains is penalized because it is part of North Castle a wealthy town that includes Armonk.  Greenburgh, a wealthier section of the Town of Greenburgh benefits from being part of an otherwise poorer town.

No consideration is given to the relative wealth of North White Plains compared to Mayfair, Knollwood, Parkway Homes and Valimar.  No adjustment is made for the fact that North White has far fewer students than Greenburgh.   

There are two factors that affect your annual tax increase.  The first of course is the actual budget to budget increase.  That is entirely under the control of the school board.  They can choose to examine and question every expense made in the prior year, evaluate every ongoing program in an effort to control and reduce expenses or, as has been their practice in recent years, simply see how far they can push the taxpayer and still pass the budget.

The second factor is the equalization rate.  An arbitrary calculation having nothing to do with the realities of property values or student populations.  It is imposed from Albany with no consideration as to its effect or equity.  It is by this rate that the total budget, inflated by the boards continued wasteful spending, is apportioned between the three towns.

Barring a major disaster in Armonk or an unexpected and incredible renaissance in Greenburgh, North White will always pay about 1/3 of the cost of the budget and Greenburgh will always pays about 1/5.  This despite the fact that North White accounts for about 1/5 of the students and Greenburgh, 1/3 of the students.   This unjust and unfair.  Greenburgh or Mt Pleasant could approve more housing at any time, increasing their student population, reducing North White's student percentage, but North White would still pick up 1/3 of the school tax bill. 

If the equalization rate was fair, why didn't it adjust when Valimar, The Meadows and the Hebrew Home were built, greatly increasing the assessed and market values of those properties.  All we got from those developments were more students and more yes votes to raise taxes and shift the burden to North White Plains and Mt. Pleasant.  

There is a State avenue for redress of this unjust situation and when the town of North Castle applied, Greenburgh fought it.  No let's keep things the way they are and throw a trip or two to Caramoor to a few seniors or maybe a Dove Yacht cruise, like those wealthier neighboring districts.     

Wake up North White Plains and Mt. Pleasant

Now that we know about the contamination on the fields, it make you wonder just why sitting on this decorative wall will subject the offender to ejection by the board of education.  Is it just because it is poorly place, too high and liable to injure students and visitors or is there something else "behind it"?

Click the enchanted forest to the right and blog you comments.

 

 

 

 

How does an 11 year old fit on this playground?