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mm+mSmm J 3 1 3 Editorials • Viewpoints • Comments Halloween a, I DO i 6 CO That bewitching time of year is upon us again. The ghosts, goblins and all sorts of characters from the never, never world of the imagination will be visiting our doors with their cries of \trick or treat.\ It's Halloween. Unfortunately, Halloween is no longer a holiday of fun and treats to celebrate the eve of \All Saints Day.\ The pranks of some youngsters on that night, as well as other nights during the bewitching week, cause property damage and are acts of vandalism. It is this behavior problem on the part of some of our youth that prompts less stable thinking adults to seek revenge. This has in the past taken the form of \doc- toring\ the treats passed out to children, endangering their lives. Ttie little ones in costumes begging for treats then become the victims, paying a very high price in- deed for the sins of their older peers. Parents are urged to instruct their children to bring ail their treats home so they may be examined before they are eaten. Let's try to keep the holiday safe. AtA&nttcf From Assemblyman | Philip Healey In order to improve New York State's economy, I have joined Assembly Minority Leader Perry B. Duryea in calling for a com- prehensive $2.15 billion tax cut to be phased in over the next five years. I believe that this is a necessary means of upgrading the economy while creating thousands of new jobs for our residents. The tax cut would provide across-the-board personal income tax cuts, state financed local real property tax relief and competitive, business tax reductions, including the elimination of the tax on small unincorporated business, and the exemption of home heating costs from the state sales tax. This tax program would be the most sweeping reform of the state's tax system since the personal income tax cut was adopted in 1919. The object of this program is to provide the needed tax relief our middle income families need and it would also stimulate job-creating economic activity in industry and business. When it is fully implemented, the tax cut plan would provide savings of more than $500 a year in tax relief for families in the $10,000 a year income bracket, nearly $600 a year for families in the $15,000 income level and more than $600 a year in tax savings for a family with a $25,000 income. Since 272,000 jobs have left the state in just the last three years, this tax relief program would help reverse the flight of business and jobs from New York by making us more competitive with other states. Now is the time for us to take decisive, broad-scale action to reduce taxes so that we can regain our economic leadership as the Empire State. The POST Is Farmingdale \YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER\ - Established 1920 - 51 Heisser Lane, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735 Telephone: CHapel 9-0131 - 0170 Publisher Joseph Merendino Editor/Manager . Robert J. Starrett Production Mgr Steven Vid Published every Thursday by Farmingdale Post Division of Merlin; Printing Co., Inc. Joseph Merendino, President; Steven Vid, Secretary-Treasurer COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY This newspaper will not be liable fc. errors, uppearing in goy advertising be- yond the cost of the space occupied by the error. By-Lined Articles & Columns are the sole opinions of the writers St do not necessarily represent views of the paper. Second Class Postage at I'arminKdale Post Office. SUBSCRIPTION RATE: 1 YEAR 15.00 MEMBER: New York Press Assoc. MEMBER: Nassau County Press Assoc MEMBER: American Newspaper Repre sentative MEMBER: National Editorial Assoc. CAPITOL COMMENT Congressman JEROME A. AMBRO Third District It's too early to determine whether last week's Ethics Committee hearings into Korean influence-buying on Capitol Hill were merely a little \Show and Tell\ for the folks, or a serious attempt to elevate the House inquiry. Ground rules set by the Committee forbade witnesses to name individual Congressmen, past or present, in any context - although there has been one slip of the tongue already. The restriction was imposed, ostensibly, to protect the reputations of innocent people. I can accept that to the degree that people who, in fact, never received cash payments or other types of Korean largesse should not be slandered through second or third-hand hearsay con- nections to the bribery scheme. For example, at one point, a former Korean CIA agent testified that Hancho Kim, one of fifSI ' From Our Readers October 19,1977 To the editor: On election day New York voters will be asked to approve a $750 million dollar economic development bond issue which by the time it is repaid could cost taxpayers 1.5 billion dollars. We are plaintiffs in a legal action to remove the bond issue from the ballot, and are writing to explain our oppositions to it. The State Constitution requires that all bond issues be for a \single work or purpose.\ As outlined by the Governor, bond monies will fund over 700 dif- ferent projects in four separate areas. There are just too many diverse projects to enable the voter to make a reasonable decision or, we believe, for this bond issue to fit within the legal meaning of \a single work or purpose.\ This constitutional provision is not without historical necessity. During the 1830's, New York State was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by excessive bon- ding. The State's credit was ruined. At one point, all capital construction was halted and oppressive taxes were levied to pay back the debt. Soon after, the constitution was revised and power was reserved to the people alone to incur long term, bonded indebtedness. When the people go to the polls they should know what they are voting for; what \single pur- pose\ the bond will finance. They should not have to vote for a hodge-podge of projects on a take-it-all or leave-it-all basis. Sincerely, /s/Donald Ross /s/ Leon Wein the suspected Korean bagmen, told him that \a Congressman\ told him that the Ambassador told him that \he\ would provide a $20,000 cash gift. I'm not even certain who the last \he\ refers to, much less whether the story is accurate. Nevertheless, testimony last week suggested a bribery net- work far more elaborate and generous than previously believed. A number of Koreans and Americans cooperating with the investigation told stories of Ambassadors stuffing plain, white envelopes thick with $100 bills in their Embassy offices and then having the bulging packages hand-delivered to Congressional offices. Then there were stories of cash-filled envelopes being promptly returned after delivery by contacting the bearer of gifts \at another Congressman's of- fice.\ The \other Congressman\ was, of course, not named. Now those are tantalizing bits of information and I am reasonably certain there is a large element of truth in the descriptions of how the operation worked. Reason dictates there were quite a few Members of Congress along with Executive Branch officials involved in the set-up from the late-60's to mid- 70's. How many are still office holders is anyone's guess. If there is a reluctance to name names, last week's revelations will put great pressure on the House Ethics Committee and Leon Jaworski, who's heading up the investigation. The public will be looking for results very, shortly. The proceedings also will probably cool off a lot of screaming from some other quarters. The > testimony suggested a definite bipar- tisanship in the scheme. With two-party involvement, some Members of Congress will be decidedly less enthusiastic about trying to make political hay out of what indeed should be a sober, responsible in- vestigation. Others will be less concerned about \containing\ the probe out of fear of the political consequences or a political backlash along party lines. A little less politics and a lot more probe will benefit the nation and this eroding institution called the Congress. /ZJ^/A.^O Leon Wein is an associate professor of law at Brooklyn Law School. Donald Ross is director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, Inc. [NYPIRGl We write as in- dividuals, not on behalf of our employers. The campaign for New Jersey governor is pivoting on one issue: The state income tax. Until last year, New Jersey was one of the few states in the union without an income tax.-But a court decision that found the property tax unconstitutional and inequitable as a basis for financing the schools changed all that. The court ordered all the state's schools closed until the New Jersey Legislature came up with an income tax formula to pay for education. The Legislature did - but only for one year. And its renewal is what the Garden State's gubernatorial candidates are battling about now. New York State and Long Island are facing a similar im- broglio. Three and one half years ago, 26 New York State school districts - led by Levittown - went into court to force the state to revamp its school financing system to make it fair to all children in all districts. Eleven other Long Island districts joined the suit. And the judge heard the final arguments last week. What the districts are saying is that the present system makes homeowners in land-poor districts like Levittown dig down deeper to come up with less than homeowners in land-rich districts »ke, say, Great Neck. In 1976-77 each district had a total budget of about $34 million. But to raise that amount Great Neck homeowners had a tax rate of $14 97 per $100 of assessed valuation while Levittown homeowners had a tax rate of $21.80. For a home assessed at $10,000, for example, that meant a school tax bill of $1,497 for the Great Neck taxpayer but a school tax bill of $2,180 for the Levittown taxpayer. Great Neck, with fewer pupils, was able to spend $4,467 per student. Levittown spent $2,725. That is not only unfair to the taxpayers, it is unfair to the pupils in the poorer district. Education is turned into a func- tion of community wealth and access to quality education is determined by where you live, even though the New York State constitution guarantees equal education to all. State lawyers defending the present system have contended that any changes should be made by the Legislature, not by the courts. But the Legislature, in spite of overwhelming evidence that the current system is grossly unfair, has failed to act. It would be better if the Legislature came up with its own solution- before the court orders it to act or im- poses its own solution. But there seems little question that, no matter who does it, the system is going to change. When it does, when the crushing school tax burden is lifted off the residential and commercial property tax- payer, New York State will be better able to compete for in- dustry and jobs and we will have taken a giant step towards solving Long Island's unem- ployment problem.
