New Report Shows Recovery Act Held Down Local Taxes, Saved School Budgets

Press Release

A report released this week by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli revealed that American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds played a vital role in keeping down local property taxes. According to DiNapoli's analysis, without the aid for school districts secured by Congressman Tim Bishop, school taxes would have risen by 7.7 percent instead of the average 2.1 percent hike.

Schools in the 1st Congressional District have already secured $108,933,130 in Recovery funds, approximately 4 percent of total school budgets in the district.

"I fought to make sure Long Island received its fair share of recovery dollars to hold down property tax hikes and save jobs," said Congressman Bishop. "The report demonstrates that without this funding, tax hikes would have more than tripled, which is just not acceptable. These funds have given us two years of breathing room, but it's not a license to spend. This is a time to make smart decisions and plan for the future."

Earlier this year, there were widespread concerns that education aid cuts would force Long Island school districts to impose massive property tax increases. In response, Congressman Bishop, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, fought for Long Island schools to get their fair share of funding from the Recovery Act.

Bishop successfully secured $2.48 billion in federal aid for New York schools over two years. According to DiNapoli's report, as a result, school districts have managed to keep property tax hikes down, preserve jobs and fund quality education. The result is that all but three school budgets on Long Island were approved in May.

While DiNapoli's report confirms the necessity of this funding, it also warns that there will be steep tax hikes in the years ahead if State and Local officials don't take action to control their budgets.

To view DiNapoli's analysis, visit: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/arra-snapshot-121709.pdf.

To view a district-by-district breakdown of ARRA funding as a percent of school district 2009-10 budgets in the First Congressional District: http://timbishop.house.gov/uploads/1stcd--arra%20(2).pdf

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