The-Leader_2008-01-31

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of Freeport. Both mom and.dad are lifelong
Freeportersr"- -„ . '"v ; - -'~ ' . {
The Leadefleamed aboutthe family's gqod fortuneYrom
James Durah's Great Aunt Theresa and Great Uncle'
Hector.
. "This is our first baby," said-Rosanny, "and
he looks like just his "dad."'. The baby has
dark brpwn,hair '.'and his^eyes - they will , bfe'light brown," said morn. Over the tele
phone Rosanny seemed to smile, "My
son is' his father's twin,'"'a little^ mini-,me. / I" • • ""J;
'.As a brand-new rnom, Rosanny said
she was'getting "some rest. The baby gets
up,ev,ery two and a half to three hours and.
girts include-a-blooming gift Atlantic Nursery; a bottle of chamjjagne-for mom from *; Atlantic Bayview Wines'and Liquors; a $25 ^ gift- certificate:- from Vincente-^ 'Jewelers; two\ dozen dougHnuts from Dunlcinx'-Donuts;,a gi|t,cfer tificate for % mom from ^line '*'P^ferS"^d -a one-year gift subscription to The Freeport Baldwi^ Leader. -• - /^••' \-
Congratulations to " the '(^mez-Duran family bn theVbirth' of their first jshild,J'aydeh.
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More school aid for Freeport in governor's budget
by Laura Schofer
Governor Eliot Spitzer has proposed a record $1.46 billion increase to education funding, which will help the Freeport School District.
The Freeport School District is slated for a 14.73 percent increase in state aid, one of • the highest proposed increases in Nassau County. Baldwin is slated for a 4.96 percent increase. The average proposed increase for other local districts was about two percent.
Why is Freeport receiving such a big increase? The governor's budget allo­cates the vast majority of operating aid through the Foundation Aid Forrhula that targets funds based on need instead of large enrollments or high property taxes.
However, the deputy superintendent of Freeport Schools, Kishore Kuncham, told residents at the January 16 board, meeting that the district, although pleased with the increase, was still ana­lyzing the figures.
He added that the figures didn't tell the whole story - some building aid was included in that number. Other changes in areas such as BOCES aid would affect the district differently. In short, Freeport "can't count.on the increase in the papers," said Mr. Kuncham.
Meanwhile, Long Island's senators, -including state Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, have begun the process of-securing additional aid to Long Island schools. Last year they negotiated addi­tional aid, providing local districts with a 13.5 percent increase, on average.
This included over .$70 million in special High Tax Aid for Long Island school districts. Additional state fund­ing . was also given to Long Island schools through the Supplemental Excess Cost Aid program that provides money to districts with growing special education costs.
But this year those additional funds ,will be greatly reduced. Plus, there is an additional $9 million in cuts proposed
to the special education budget. "That\ represents about $73,000 to $75,000 per district or one special education teacher," said Evelyn Ain, president of Autism United and the publisher of Spectrurn Magazine. "Cuts [like these] represent an additional burden to the local taxpayer."
School aid and property taxes .
Even with the increase in aid, proper­ty taxes will not decrease in Freeport. Here in Nassau County school taxes . account for 61 percent of the tax bill, according to statistics complied by the county comptroller's office.
"Long Island taxpayers use 20 per­cent more of their gross household income to pay property taxes than New Yorkers in general," said .Matthew T. Crosson, Long Island Association president. "Long Island is predominantly a middle-class region whose working people struggle to bear the tax burden placed on them," he
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said in a prepared statement.
State Comptroller Thomas Di Napoli's "Report on the Financial Condition of New York State" wrote that "local property "tax levies grew, by 60 percent from 1995 to 2005 more than twice the rate of inflation (28 percent) during that period... Nassau County saw an increase of 74.8 percent." '
"Everyone wants relief. It's .the biggest single" issue," said Assemblyman McDonough. "The city representatives [in the majority in the state Assembly] don't feel it because they don't have the property tax burden [to fund schools]. And upstate, they think we're rich. But our cost of living is so high. We must"do something now."
A Plan proposed by Governor
Governor Spitzer in his State of the State address given earlier this month said he plans to address the burden of property taxes, and created the New
(continued on page 17)
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