Submitted by Gioia Shebar, Jan 7, 2008 14:44

The park name change? Okay. Caps on property taxes? Less than useless.

Districts will have plenty of time to raise their budgets exponentially to be capped at a very high level. Caps do nothing for homeowners who already pay 20% and more of their budgets to fund schools. Caps do nothing for individuals whose assessments skyrocket regulary,

In other words you can cap at 2% and raise the assessment (of which you are taking 2%) by 100%. In addition a vote in a district can override the cap. This happens regularly when the majority of voters are not homeowners; sure, raise the cap-I'm not affected.

It still means some children receive much less public money for their education than others-depending on where they live. This isn't the case in NYC.

Outside of NYC school taxes are not from income based sources . They are based on how much somebody thinks your family home will sell for! Many people lose their homes in this system. Everyone knows schools should be funded equally throughout the state by general revenue .

This state funded income based method does not endanger your home . At present, homes are taxed repeatedly and excessively to fund schools in your district regardless of your income. You wind up working just to pay your school tax. People take out equity loans just to pay school taxes which-in many cases- have risen 60% over the last five years. It's an insane system. Capping it is like putting a cover over a cesspit. It still smells to high heaven. Spitzer should know better. Every group representing the beleaguered middle class has told him a state takeover is the only sane solution. He appears not to be listening and he hasn't even asked for a Blue Ribbon fact finding Commission to come up with an equitable solution.

The group recommending caps is a right wing think tank representing the top2% of earners who do not want to pay their fair share of any kind of tax. That's no way to make policy that will continue to destroy the hopes and stability of millions of homeowners.

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