My parents moved to Manhasset in 1966 for the quality of the schools and the quality of life that this community offered. I returned here 15 years ago to raise my family for the very same reasons, and to enable my children to be near their grandparents. My mother still resides in the house that I grew up in.
My contemporaries also chose to return to this community to raise their families and many have parents who still reside here. We all agree Manhasset is a special place and we are very fortunate to be able to live here.
Whether you support the budget or oppose it, none of us are happy with increasing taxes. Over these past 15 years we have seen our taxes go up for various reasons, some of which have been beyond our control. The court ordered reassessment of properties in Nassau County nearly doubled everyone’s property taxes here in Manhasset.
In addition, we have all been impacted by the 2008 financial crisis. Our 401ks, IRA’s, investments and home prices all suffered. With my mom still living here, I am very aware of the impact that all of these events have had on her generation.
The divisive feeling in our community now is distressing. Part of this can be attributed to misleading information, presented to the public by the Manhasset Proponents for School Accountability. The MPSA professes to be for truth and transparency in matters of our school budgets. One of the members of this group, Ms. Laurann Pandelakis, is a former educator in the Hicksville school district.
This group put out an e-mail to the community the night before the school budget vote which had attachments of current district employee salaries and a list of Manhasset school retiree pensions, which is public information.
The MPSA e-mail stated in bold type that teacher pensions are New York State tax free, which is true, as are most public employee pensions.
Voting no on the current Manhasset school budget will not have any effect on past teachers’ pensions. I want to say that I do not begrudge Ms. Pandelakis her New York State tax-free pension or other retirement benefits, as they were based on her years of service and the contract that she had with the Hicksville school district.
That contract was negotiated in good faith many years before the events which have led up to the increasing pension contribution problem that faces our district, and municipalities and government agencies throughout the country.
As an informed individual, she also knows that decisions made by the Hicksville community on any new school budgets will have no effect on her New York state tax-free pension. Those pensions remain an obligation of that district and its taxpayers.
The New York State constitution guarantees her state tax-free pension and the only way to achieve any change is through enacting legislation in Albany. In the interest of truth and transparency she should be disclosing all of these facts when a group she represents is quoted in e-mails or newspaper articles and questions the pensions of others.
Are rising pension obligations frustrating to many in the private sector who have seen their companies do away with pensions and had their retirement funds severely impacted by the financial crisis? Absolutely, but voting no on the Manhasset school budget will not have an effect on past school district employee pensions.
These are an obligation of contracts signed long ago. If the MPSA or the community want to see meaningful change in pension reform, their energies should be directed toward lobbying our elected state government officials and the many various unions whose members receive state tax-free pensions.
The timing of the MPSA e-mail and the robotic phone calls made that evening and the day of the budget vote by the Manhasset Republican Club, would seem suspect in the fact that misleading information was delivered in an urgent manner. There was no time for those who received such calls and who may have had questions to get clarification.
It should also be noted that according to a letter dated May 23, 2013 from Francis X. Moroney, chair of the North Hempstead Republican Committee, the MRC “is not a club that is sanctioned or operating with the approval of either the North Hempstead or Nassau Republican Committees.
Moreover, the Republican Party does not take any position on any school district matters, which are strictly local and non-partisan”
Voting down a second budget and forcing us into austerity, one which will be much worse than the austerity budget of 2004-2005, is not the answer and does not address the pension issues. Please if you have a question for the board – ask it! There is no hidden agenda on their part and they have presented the facts in a completely transparent manner.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and their vote. Please remember that a no vote does not solve prior contractual obligations or pension issues that the district faces but it will impact our children’s educational futures and in addition, affect all of our home values whether you are a young family or a retiree.
The next budget will contain extensive cuts affecting every student and will still not satisfy everyone. It will take compromise on the entire communities’ part to maintain any semblance of the excellent school district and quality of life we chose to move here for.
Nancy Sullivan Holweger
Manhasset
