To the Editor:

The property tax cap as proposed by the governor and negotiated by the Assembly Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader does not address several main issues and will do further damage to New York State Public Schools and North County Public Schools in particular.

The issues it doesn’t address are issues of mandate relief, income tax equity and issues of the New York State Lottery distribution of funds for education.

Also a property tax cap that requires a by-pass vote of a 60 per cent super majority locally is not in the interest of local and democratic rule.

It should be up to the local taxpayer, not some state mandate.

If most of the above issues were addressed there may not be need for a property tax cap at all.

The issue of mandate relief: Yes, there needs to be mandate relief.

However there should be no mandate relief when it comes to health and safety issues nor issues of most special education mandates.

The issue of income tax equity: A total overhaul of the income tax structure must be addressed in a more progressive manner than now exists.

Railing against higher tax rates for higher income people is non-productive gamesmanship.

If the people who can afford an income tax increase are “sheltered” by our present tax structure and by politicians who pander to them, then who will help pay for the education of our children and grand children?

It is the responsibility of those who have been rewarded by our system to do a little more in lifting the burden.

The New York State Lottery is supposed to be to support education. That is its reason for its being.

Lottery officials will tell you that they have deposited $3 billion into the education account on March 31, the end of the lottery’s fiscal year. They claim that will be 15% of the entire state aid to education. They also say that St. Lawrence County schools will receive $27,376,014.

What they don’t tell you is what lottery income, prize money, and lottery administration goes into the mix.

Most importantly, they don’t tell you what moneys are “left over.”

In other words, just what percent of the lottery does this $3 billion represent? I’ll bet the upper echelon of the lottery has salaries that make the governor, school administrators, teachers, and your own salaries look like pittances.

So before there is any tax cap in this state, let’s implore the governor and our state legislators and yes, you the public spend more time studying this issue.

Our children and grandchildren’s educations depend on it.

Joseph M. Liotta