Your editorial of last week, concerning Nassau County’s property tax assessment system, begs a fundamental question., viz, who bears financial responsibility for educating children?
For the minority of parents with economic means, private schooling offers numerous options. For the majority of parents without such means, public schooling is available.
Then the question becomes: how should this financial burden be apportioned?
Before the turn of the last century, New York and the Northeastern states choose a property based tax system.
Then, these states were economically ascendant and the cost of maintaining the system was relatively trivial. Neither is so today.
As a result, we have the present sturm und drang, As you state, “As long as there is a property tax, there will be disputes about assessments.” Wisdom!
Why is a tax anachronism that is more than 100 years old still the mechanism used to fund public education?
Further property taxation, per se, discriminates against a material segment of the population and as such contravenes due process, a bedrock legal concept requiring all be treated equitably.
The states of the South, East and West, led by Texas, have gotten rid of this system generations ago. Isn’t it way past high time for some new thinking here?
Newspapers have always been a pillar of reformist zeal and in the van when change is afoot, be it the American, French or Russian Revolutions.
Marat’s revolutionary newspaper, “Friend of the People” comes to mind.
As such. I nominate the Herald Courier to carry the banner and lead the charge for long overdue reform. The usual bromides and band-aids won’t fix a broken, dishonest and unfair system.
Expect strong resistance from the usual suspects, including the grievance mongering industry and their lawyers, politicians embedded in the status quo and entrenched bureaucrats in the education system.
Yet despite these obstacles resolve and will, can carry the day. Hear, hear!
Tom Coffey,
Herricks
