Tax summit coming to Warwick Saturday

Warwick — Local, state, and national politicians and their representatives will converge Saturday morning on Warwick Valley High School for the district’s first-ever legislative symposium on education funding. Those confirmed to attend include Congressional candidate John Hall, state Senate candidate Christopher McBride, Assembly members Kevin Cahill, Nancy Calhoun and Annie Rabbitt, and assembly candidates Michael Paduch and Richard Randazzo. U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer are sending representatives. State Sen. Thomas Morahan may be in attendance. U.S. Rep. Sue Kelly also is a maybe. The purpose of the summit is to help find alternatives to ever-increasing school taxes and help ease the burden on local taxpayers. Warwick School Board member Coleen Johnson will moderate the summit, which begins at 10 a.m. Billy Easton, executive director of Alliance for Quality Education, will also make a statement before the question and answer period. Questions have been received in advance from residents. After the Q&A session, the crowd will break up into groups and meet with the legislators in round table discussions. Others who will take part may include representatives from the New York State School Boards Association and the Council of Schools Superintendents. Some of the questions include: • Is there a plan to eventually offset the dollars coming from the lottery and gambling for education when and if these sources dry up? • Will you support legislation giving local communities power to decide for themselves whether their local taxes should be used to support charter schools? • Will you insist that any legislation imposing a new mandate on school districts detail the costs and provide state funds to cover those costs? • How specifically do you plan to address the reduction of property taxes for school funding? • Is it reasonable to require certain religious, not-for-profit and charitable institutions to pay a share of the tax burden? • Do you support a luxury tax? “We want to discuss state and federal funding toward school districts and how that impacts the local taxpayer,” said Dr. Frank Greenhall, superintendent of Warwick schools. “Last year when we were doing the budget, people said ‘We’ll work with you here in town but you have to effect change in Albany.’ They told us the board had to be more proactive,” Greenhall has said. Registration for the summit begins at 9:30 on Saturday morning.