Massapequa School District Lowers Tax Levy

Residents of the Massapequa School District will get a lower than expected tax bill this October.

The Board of Education voted Thursday night to add $1.1 million to money already slated to offset expenditures in the budget for the 2010-11 school year that was adopted in May.

Originally, the district had planned to use $1.9 million to offset $176.1 million in expenditures. But they came up with the additional $1.1 million after receiving extra federal funds and getting favorable interest rate on a recently issued tax anticipation note, according to Deputy Superintendent Alan Adcock.

The result is that taxpayers who had been expecting to see a 2.48 percent increase in their tax levy, will now only see a 1.7 percent increase.

Adcock said that even with the extra allocation of funds, the school district still has enough in reserve to weather future economic troubles. 

"We thought that particularly in these economic times we would recommend that we lower the tax burden.

The district will now levy $142,879,857 in taxes for the school district plus  $5,195,028 for the library.

The Board also voted to give a raise to Superintendent Charles Sulc at Thursday's meeting.

Sulc will receive a 4.16 percent salary increase plus a 3.8 percent increase in an annuity he receives. With the raise, he will earn $250,000 this year, he said.

Board President Christine Lupetin Perrino, said that the raise is in line with what other superintendents earn in Nassau County.

"The Board has been very happy with the superintendent and his many accomplishments," Perrino said. "Especially this year, we had a very aggressive set of goals, and we really have exceeded expectations on many of those goals."

Adcock was promoted to Deputy Superintendent after serving as Assistant Superintendent for Business. He will retain all of the duties performed under his old job, but will become the "point man in the district," in the event the superintendent is away," Sulc said.