Dick Randazzo was thinking of the 2016-17 fiscal year when he spoke at the Board of Education’s Feb. 11 meeting.
A member of American Legion Post 353, Mr. Randazzo thanked the board for its work and research in considering a partial exemption for people who served in the military during wartime.
Although the school board members voted 5-4 against the exemption, Mr. Randazzo hoped they would reconsider it after they’ve adopted a budget for the next school year.
Other school districts in Orange and Ulster Counties have approved the measure, Mr. Randazzo said. He singled out Valley Central and Wallkill — two districts that granted the exemption and were then successful in passing multi-million dollar school bonds.
“There’s a balance that voter and taxpayers recognize,” Mr. Randazzo told the board. “Our veterans in Cornwall deserve the same recognition as veterans everywhere else.”
If the Cornwall school board had voted “yes,” there would have been three levels of exemptions. The basic level would have applied to veterans who were on active duty during war time. Those who served in combat zones would have received a larger deduction. And the highest exemption would have gone to veterans with a service-related disability.
The average savings for a wartime veteran in Cornwall would have been just over $250. People who didn’t qualify for an exemption would have picked up a larger share of the load that would have been roughly equal to a half of one percent of their tax bill.
At the Feb. 11 meeting, Jim Golun referred to a letter he had sent to the school board. In that correspondence, he claimed that the board had favored non-veterans over veterans, and should have done more to publicize the hearing that preceded the vote. He suggested that there should have been a district-wide mailing.
Meanwhile, eighteen members of the state Assembly (including James Skoufis of the 99th district) have written to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to recommend that the state pick up the costs for the veterans’ exemption.
DISTRICTS GRANTING VETS EXEMPTIONS
Nearby districts that have approved the exemption are Chester, Florida, Goshen, Greenwood Lake, Marlboro, Minisink, Monroe-Woodbury Newburgh, Pine Bush, Tuxedo, Valley Central, Wallkill, Warwick and Washingtonville.
Mr. Randazzo reported that Port Jervis is waiting to decide, Highland Falls tabled the proposal, and Kiryas Joel won’t be considering it.
After granting the exemption, Valley Central and Wallkill were able to pass multi-million dollar school bonds.
