{ title: 'The beacon. (Babylon, N.Y.) 1972-current, March 04, 2010, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-03-04/ed-1/seq-1/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-03-04/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-03-04/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-03-04/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Suffolk Cooperative Library System
SOUTH SHORE L.I'S LARGEST CIRCULATION WEEKLY NEWSPAPER S erving the community since 1966 P rinted on recycled paper W ebsite : www . babylonbeacon . com E-MAIL ADDRESS: ACJNEWS@RCN.COM BA B Y L O N PU B L fC I.TRRAR v O F F IC IA L N E W S P A P E R Periodicals Postage Paid- Babylon Post Office, Babylon NY 11702 (USPS 03960-8000) FOR SUFFOLK COUNTY •TOWN OF BABYLON . VILLAGE OF BABYLON Inside this week: • Around Town . . . Page 2 • O bituaries. . . Page 9C • BABYLON « r u o n m ^™—-■ •WEST IS l I cnbC-rn /11 AN 'N<X1A£ • co p ia g u i CUL •NORTH BABi 3 V 9 See Inside for ool and Sports news published ev 65] Notices: Your Right to Know: roun ______ _ Wune, jane u. woire Publishers, Carolyn and Alfred James | Pages.. .6 ,7 , 8C, 9C & IOC The Babylon Beacon is the hometown newspaper of Connie Allen o f Babylon Babylon Public Library, Babylon, NY. Congratulations to Susan Peverley, L ibrary C lerk, w ho recently celebrated twenty years on the Library staff. A party was thrown in her honor by the staff, Library Board has presented her with, a Certificate o f Recognition. Susan works in both the Circulation Department and the Technical Services Department. Flanking Susah are the Library Board o f Trustees: M ary Gallagher, Frank Fronzo, Andy Calimano and Corinne Robinson. I VOL. 4 4 NO. 9 In the News Congressman Pete King (R-Seaford) congratulates Kyle Sherwood o f Babylon for earning a Congressional Nomination to the U.S. Naval Academy. Kyle will be graduating from Babylon High School. Lindenhurst firefighters rescue animals from house fire... See page 3. THURSDAY, M arch 4 ,2 0 1 0 ________ ______________ 50 CENTS __________________ ___ Gov looks to link real property tax credit to level of school spending Proposal would penalize property owners living in school districts that increase tax levies more than 4 percent A plan to bring what he termed “real tax relief for New Yorkers,” was proposed recently by Gov. David Paterson as part o f his new budget and is under review by the legislature. I f enacted, the plan will give property owners tax credits that will be paid for by projected savings at the State level over the next fiscal year. The amount of that tax credit will depend, however, on the fiscal restraint o f each school district in the State, said Matt Anderson, a spokesman for Paterson. “W h a t this plan will do, i f enacted, is not only co n t r o l spending at th e State level and retu rn any surplus those savings generate directly to the taxpayers, but also encourage school districts to do the same,” he said. “We looked at the STAR program and recognized that it did not provide the k ind o f real property savings it was designed to bring because of escalating costs at the local level.” The plan would work as follows: The tax credit for property owners will b e reduced proportionally when their school district does not maintain a tax levy for the year that is at or below 1.2 tim es the rate o f inflation, or four percent over the previous year, whichever is less. In the event that the local school district tax levy increase is m ore than that, then the amount o f the tax credit will be reduced proportionally. For example, i f a property tax b ill in 2 0 1 2 increased by five percent, and the inflation rate is four percent, then the credit will be multiplied by a factor equaling 104/105 or the credit would be one percent less than that given to property owners living in a school district that m et the cap. I f the tax b ill rises only by three percent, then the credit will be increased by a factor equaling 104/103, or one percent more. This, undoubtedly places m o re pressure on school districts to keep the rate o f annual increases Under control, even at a tim e w h en State aid has been reduced and mandates increased. “There’s no question that the proposal gives school districts the incentive to control spending, but i f the State doesn’t control spending as well, then there will b e no m o n ey for tax credits,” said New York Sen. Chuck Fuschillo (R-M errick). “I would be in support o f a circuit breaker law, depending on how it is set up to work,” said N.Y.S. A ssem b lym an R o b e rt Sw eeney (D -Lindenhurst). “Anything that helps to save m o n ey and reduce taxes is im p o rtant but I don’t know i f we are going to get control o f this [the State’s fiscal] problem unless we do som ething dramatic.” Meanwhile, school officials pointed out that they are wrestling with a n u m b er o f issues that make reducing costs difficult at best. “Certainly, the picture is not rosy,” said Amityville School Superintendent John W illiam s in discussing this year’s budget discussions. “We are preparing for the worst but doing our best. W illiam s said that the m o st difficult part o f the budgeting process is not com ing up with a spending plan that taxpayers can afford and one that provides for education, but com ing up with one that can be managed during the year when other factors, such as the State’s decision this year to delay com m itted funding to school districts. “If we have to reduce staff and increase class sizes, we can bite the bullet and do what has to be done,” he said. “But then when som ething happens such as the State’s decision to withhold subsidy payments in the middle o f the year, that can wreak havoc on any financial p la n .\ “In our case, you will find that we will definitely be under th e cap th is year,” said A lan A d c o c k , superintendent o f business for the Massapequa School District. “But it may b e m o re difficult for o ther school districts that have no reserve funds.” Som e school d istricts used reserve funds in the face o f eroding state aid over the past several years, and as a result o f some added costs associated with the State’s decision this year to lag som e state aid payments. In Lindenhurst, where the State withheld $2.75 m illion in aid, the district had enough m o n ey in reserve to bridge the gap until the payments came in, however, Superintendent o f Schools Richard N athan said that kind o f fiscal m anagem e n t can (Continued on page 3) Gruesom e find as train pulls into Babylon Railroad Station Amityville and MTA police made a troublesome dis covery last week, and are continuing their investigation into the incident. Shortly before 8 p.m., Fri., Feb. 19, a Long Island Rail road Train pulled into the Babylon Railroad Station and someone noticed that there was a large amount o f blood on the front of the train. Assuming that the train had struck something —or someone—between Freeport and Babylon. They called the Amityville Police Depart ment and asked officers to check the tracks for any signs of an accident. APO MichaelBenedict and Harold Miller responded and found a hat, a pair o f sneakers and a suit case on the tracks but n o signs o f a body. MTA police responded with a K-9 unit. They notified Amityville that they would b e taking over the investiga tion. A thorough walk, o f the route turned up nothing unusual,-but the investigation is continuing, said a Long Island Railroad spokesman. On Monday, Long Island Railroad spokesman said the incident is still under investigation.
