N. Babylon School Board Will Attempt to Pierce Tax Cap Again

The North Babylon Board of Education voted Tuesday night to put the same $112 million budget proposal that was defeated last week up for a revote on June 18.

The board voted 4-2 to attempt to pierce the state's tax cap once again instead of cutting $625,000 from the proposal to bring it within the cap. The decision means the budget will need a 60 percent supermajority to pass. If the budget fails again, the board is automatically required to adopt a zero percent tax increase contingency budget requiring millions in cuts. 

At the start of Tuesday's meeting at North Babylon High School, board president Janet Meyerson polled the board to see who was in favor of sticking with the original budget and its 3.4 percent hike in the school tax levy and who supported trimming the budget down to a 2.65 percent school tax hike, within the tax cap. Four board members–Barbara Ferguson, Barbara Leun, Audrey Jacullo and Jay Shinnick–said they supported a 2.65 percent budget, which would only require a simple majority to pass. 

"I will not gamble with going to zero," Leun said. 

Two hours later, after exploring numerous cuts to the original budget, both Leun and Ferguson had changed their tune and both voted, along with Meyerson and board vice president Sal Levanti, in favor of putting the original budget up for a revote. 

"If we go to a zero budget, it is devastating," Leun said, "but by the same token, I thought our budget originally was outstanding." 

Leun said she believed in the people of North Babylon to see the merits of the budget proposal. "If this doesn't pass, I'm going to feel like I failed all of the children," she said. 

Nearly 100 people packed into high school's Little Theater Tuesday night and many urged the board to take the gamble and stick with the original budget. The board discussed making numerous cuts–including eliminating elementary summer school, reducing late bus service and removing security personnel from schools–that would have brought the budget within the tax cap, but the board's vote was to stick to its guns. 

"I'd like to put it back up at 3.4," Levanti said to applause from the crowd. "I believe in our town...every child has to be given the best education that North Babylon can give and we are building the future of North Babylon with this [budget]." 

The budget, which would raise school taxes by $254 for the average North Babylon homeowner [$50 more than under a budget at the tax cap], includes funding for four new elementary school teachers to equalize classes sizes, funding to keep security personnel that were put in place following the Newtown shootings and money for numerous facilities projects. 

Trustee Jay Shinnick, who lost his seat in last week's board election to Heather Rowland, said he could not "in good conscience" support putting the same budget before voters. 

"What I heard in the street is the arrogance of the board trying to pierce the cap two years in a row and you may go out and rile the people but at the same time if you try to put out the same budget right now as you did last time, you are going to wake up more of the no vote and you are going to bring them out a lot faster," Shinnick said. "I'm not willing to roll the dice and end up with a zero." 

The original budget received 54 percent of the vote last week, not enough to pierce the cap, but enough for the school board to trust the public to push it over the 60 percent mark on June 18.

Seven districts on Long Island attempted to pierce the tax cap last week with only one of those budgets–Bay Shore–passing. North Babylon officials defended their budget, saying that while other districts that proposed to exceed the cap were still decimating programs and services, the North Babylon proposal was about adding things back.

Leun said she her husband had told her if the same budget was put up, it would look like arrogance on the board's part for not listening to the people. 

"I pointed out to him that we did listen to 54 percent of the people," Leun said to applause. "Under a Cuomo democracy, that's not good enough."  

The board will hold a public hearing on the budget next Tuesday, June 4. 

Do you agree with the decision to put the same budget up for a revote? Let us know in the comments section below.