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Image provided by: Long Island Library Resources Council
g u < < x 2 Ul -J < Q O Z 3 < u. Ul Editorials • Viewpoints • Comments Library Vote School District voters will go to the polls again next Tuesday to vote on a special referendum to allow the Farmingdale Public Library to purchase their south branch library facilities for $250,000 with a 30 year bond issue; The library, which has been renting the building for the past 15 years at a cost of $25,000 per year, must exercise the option in their lease before it expires in October or miss out on the price agreed upon 15 years ago. A new lease on the building would cost $40,000 per year plus increases as taxes increased. Over another ten years this would amount to over $400,000 without any equity being purchased. Those opposed to the purchase of the south branch building say mat with the Board of Education closing schools, one of the schools closed could become the library branch. The Main Street School is now up for sale and proved unsuitable as a library facility without extensive renovations estimated at about one million dollars. If the school board follows its present plan to close Park- way Oaks Elementary School next, it still would not be available for library use for two years unless some sort of wing plan was conceived. There's no way that this could be done prior to the expiration of the library's lease in October. .,, The fact that the library needs more room to operate than is available at the Main Street location which they own has not been challenged. If they are to continue operation beyond their present lease expiration in October they will require some sort of lease renewal if they are not able to purchase their present facilities. Even if a suitable school building should become available in the near future, the cost of moving and renovating would probably cost more than the purchase price of their present site. For these reasons we feel that a \Yes\ vote on the propositions would be the most economical vote for our tax dollars in the long run. Letters CAMrOl COMMENT Congressman JEROME A. AMBRO Third District We have seen again and again in politics that campaign success follows campaign expense. As political campaigning moved off the railroad car platform and on the airwaves or into mass circulation newspapers, as direct mailings and telephoning more and more replaced handshaking and babyhugging, politicians, now facing the enormous cost of a modern campaign, became in- creasingly dependent upon, and all too often beholden to big campaign contributors. Hundreds of $5 and $10 cam- paign contributions from in- dividual backers paled in com- parison to a single check from the representative of a multi-million dollar corporation, a free- spending special interest group or a labor organization's political committee. Consequently, the political influence of the power brokers has grown in gross disproportion to their numbers and at the ex- pense of the private citizen. However, there is an apparatus to blunt the influence of a few wealthy contributors and put the legislative process back in the hands of the only group Congress is elected to serve - the general public. Public financing of political campaigns and spending ceilings for candidates using these con- tributions erodes the privileged position of those power brokers who now have the potential to buy the loyalty of politicians through huge campaign contributions. Federal matching funds, provided by income tax return checkoff, put the public in the position of supporting campaigns with significant amounts of money - a position now held by lobbyists and other big-money interests. These funds, which are voluntary contributions and not federal revenues, also give in- cumbent AND CHALLENGER an equal opportunity to share the available campaign support. Setting limits on both cam- paign spending and contributions From Our Readers Dear Editor: I wanted to Write this earlier, but was just too tired and busy to do so. It's just as well though, for I can now make my letter do a double job - \kill two birds with one stone\ as they say. First. I want to thank everyone concerned for the help I had in chairing the \Eastern European Concert.\ This means not only the members of the Bicentennial Committee and specifically the Special Events Committee, but the public. In the end, it's the public that makes the difference. Without 9 the public, there just \ain't no concert.\ Secondly, I want to thank George Cook, for his thanking me personally for the community that night, and then for his wonderful letter in the papers, someting he really did not have to do, having already given his thanks. It was work getting this Stye Jfamingtotle $ ni&i \YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER\ - Established 1920 - 51 Heisser Lone, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735 Telephone: CHapel 9-0131 * 0170 Publisher ....... Joseph MerenJ/no Editor/Manager. . . Robert J, Stanett Production Mgr Steven Vid Published every Thursday by Island-Wide Publications, inc. Joseph Merendino, President^Steven Vid, Secretary—Treasurer COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY This newspaper will not be liable for errors, appearing in any adver— .Using beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. By—Lined Articles and Columns are the sole opinions of the writers and do not necessarily represent views of this paper. Second Class Postage at Farm* ingdale Post Office. SUBSCRIPTION RATE: 1 YEAR $5.00 MEMBER: New York Press Assoc. MEMBER: Nassau County Press Assoc. MEMBER: American Newspaper Repre- sentative MEMBER: National Editorial Assoc. affair prepared, but I had fun aoing it and met some nice poeple in the process, namely the people of the Polish Choir and the Ukrainian Dancers. The support and help of Mayor Hallahan and the committee was outstanding. I admit though, that I was a little nervous that evening. I guess I'm more accustomed to \blasting\ someone in public rather than speaking softly. Again, thankyou George, and everyone else! Sincerely, Nicholas B.Aleshin Dear Community Member: If you were in the market to purchase property wouldn't you prefer buying it at a 1960 level instead of at today's inflated prices. You may not be aware that a bargain such as I have described exists, but it dees, and in our community. Your library board has the option to purchase the South Farmingdale Branch Library at a price agreed upon in 1960 of $250,000. If you don't believe that this is a bargain then consider the annual rental required to renew the lease of $40,000 and escalating each year. This means the rental cost of a 10 year lease would be over $400,000 vs. the $250,000 purchase price. The option to purchase the Branch Library building expires in October 1976. We have ex- [Continued on page 17] further diminishes the iiifluence of these political heavyweights The executive committee of the Freshmen Caucus has endorsed a bill which I co-sponsored that would set up a public financing system for Congressional campaigns - a logical extension to public financing of Presidential races. The bill, which was dra'ted by a Freshmen ad hoc commi tee, is being processed by the * louse Administration Committee and hopefully will reach the floor shortly. /faemtffy Frotr Assemblyman Philip Hea ley A package of senior citizen bills is being prepared by the Legislature's Committees on the Aging and because they would provide savings and other benefits I am planning to co-sponsor a substantial portion of the legislation. The bills are not in draft form yet but they will include areas which need attention. Greater real property tax exemption availability would be provided, eligibility levels for the Green Thumb program would be increased, admission fees at state parks and recreation facilities reduced and transportation and recreation funding would be raised. Included in the property tax exemption bills is one which would provide a sliding income scale with a percentage allowance of assessed valuation reduction based on incomes from $2,000 to $7,000. This measure is known as the'circuit breaker'bill. This is an important concept because increased property taxes have created an economic hardship for many elderly homeowners who are being forced to abandon their homes; Senior citizens would be offered a greater tax savings so that they can be encouraged to maintain their own homes through the money acquired through significant tax relief. Presently, those 65 years of age or over who have occupied their present homes for at least two years can obtain a 50 per cent real property tax exemption if annual incomes are no more than $6,500. Under the present method, the Legislature has been changing the income ceiling each year so that a larger segment of the senior citizen community can take advantage of mis benefit The sliding scale concept would provide an alternative to the tax reduction currently offered. Senior citizens are a resource which must be encouraged to remain in the community so that we can benefit from their experience. Supervisor JOHN W. BURKE. REPORTS TS Medical assistance for Nassau County's finsnrfriiy disadvantaged cost the County over $110 million in 1975. This represents an 18-percent increase over 1974's costs. The County pays 25 percent of the total Medical Assistance, or Medicaid, costs, with the Federal government paying 50 percent and New York State the remaining 25 percent. J 1 ?\ 5 ^ a? 61.000 people in Nassau County who meet the Federal and ^eelh^mtyiwniirements of Medicaid. However, onlyalittle more than half of these use the service each month. Of the total $110 million expewliture, about $57 million, or SI percent, went to nursing homes ^ h S^^ Wf ^ m ^ to ^«^^<Wp«ple. In other words, 51 percent of the total mem^sTwilIsspentforonly7 percent of the eligible population. The next highest expenditure is for hospital care, which cost more than $24ImiUion last year. An additional $6.4 million went for clinical • »? \f^F thftt eentowes to grow as more and more people are going to clinics in lieu of using private doctors JSfi^i County **** Services Commissioner Joseph D'Elia has cited, there is a great need for local involvement in the reform of $e medical assistance program. He notes that the County is totally at the m *K of °£ ***** *•* federal governments without any power to control or dispute rates imposed on the County. The cost of nursing home care, for example, ranges from $950 to $2200 per month in 27 privately operated facilities in Nassau County. Although there is a State-imposed ceiling on nursing home rates, the rate structure is based on a cost-plus formula, a practice which en- c«u^ spending and provides no incentive to Emit costs. I ftOly Wort Commissioner D'Elia's contention that a fixed schedule of flat-fee rates be determined for nursing homes as is the practice in the States of Connecticut and New Jersey We must continue to pursue the reform of the medical assistance program to ensure that every dollar is spent in the most efficient and effective manner.
