Sen. Brooks submits ‘50-50’ plan to Senate

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State Sen. John Brooks, a Democrat from Seaford, last week introduced a proposal that, if enacted, will help to ease the property tax burden currently shouldered by residential ratepayers. The bill, S1707, is also intended to create a more equitable distribution of the funding available, placing richer and poorer districts on a more equal footing.

Brooks spent much of the past year crafting the plan as local ratepayers were hit by the double barrels of higher property taxes and the inability to deduct much of the increases, as a result of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax plan.

“We have long recognized that the use of residential property taxes to fund education is by no means the most ideal and fair way to fund public education,” Brooks said in a statement. “With the enactment of [the Trump tax plan] and the cap placed on the deductibility of state and local taxes [SALT], the over-dependence on residential property tax to fund public education became an even greater problem than before.”

In its simplest terms, the Brooks plan will cap the amount schools levy from residential property taxes at 50 percent of their annual budgets. The remaining 50 percent will be paid by the state. Currently, districts with small commercial tax bases, like Seaford and Wantagh, must receive as much as 70 percent or more of their revenue from residential property taxes.

According to the Brooks plan, the cost of the state’s half of the equation will be funded the same way state aid is currently funded. “Each year, we have increased state aid based on existing formulas to provide additional funding . . . for districts in financial need. Under the Brooks Plan, we will also be funding districts excessively dependent on the use of residential property taxes,” he said in a statement.

Brooks, a former Seaford Schools trustee, has spoken of the burden increased unfunded mandates from both federal and state governments have added to low-income or mainly residential districts. With the enactment of the permanent 2 percent cap on increases to the property tax levy, beefing up programs like ENL or adding other remedial programs inevitably requires districts to identify offsets if they are to avoid piercing the cap, Brooks said at a forum of stakeholders in November. 

Local school administrators were reluctant to comment in detail until they knew all the details of the plan. Seaford and Wantagh schools are both far along in the process of planning next year’s budget, and the state’s budget itself must be approved no later than March 31. For the Brooks Plan to be implemented in the 2020-21 school year, both lawmakers and school officials will have to scramble.

Ultimately, the Brooks Plan is intended to help students in low-income districts have access to the same opportunities as students in wealthy districts. The 54 school districts in Nassau County contain wide disparities. For example, Lawrence spends more than $35,000 per pupil per year; Franklin Square spends about $17,000 per pupil.

Brooks hopes his plan will enable lower income districts to offer students similar opportunities without taking away from wealthier districts.