This is the fourth of a series of candidate profiles that will appear on Massapequa Patch. Stay with us for more profiles leading up to Tuesday's election.
Richard Carozza is a candidate in the May 15 Massapequa School Board election.
He has been a resident of Massapequa for 21 years. and has three children attending school in the district.
He owns several companies which are involved in construction, plumbing, heating, sewer services, insurance and real estate.
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We recently sat down with Carozza and heard some of his opinions on the issues facing voters.
On how he'd make cuts:
"I would cut across the board. I would look at administration. We have 25 people who make over $150,000 a year. That is unsustainable. The percentage increase they would get is unsustainable. it would put the people that are now having problems paying their mortgages in dire straits."
On the tax cap:
"it's the only way that we can put a control on the the school district. Without it even on the table, this would be a 5 or 6 percent [tax] increase. When you have a $200 million budget and it's 6 percent increase, that's $ 12 million. Over five years, you're talking $60 million."
On state aid:
"State aid is never going to be what we think we're going to get. It's based on a complicated system . Basically, we're an affluent school district and we're not ever going to get our fair share of state aid. We never did. We never will and that's just the way it is."
On the budget:
"We need to change what we do, and be mindful of it. We have to get to a zero based budget, which basically means we'll look at it every year. "You can't build on the budget anymore. You can't say you're going to raise it 5 or 6 percent."
