Welcome to Sane in Bedford - the Mission Statement

This effort started a few years ago when I became alarmed at the rate of property tax growth in Bedford/Westchester County which had suddenly made Westchester the highest taxed county in the nation. I simply set out to figure out where all those taxes went, and I discovered they go to the following:

65%  schools

20%  towns

15%  county

In particular, I found the rate of growth in school budgets (7-8% a year) to be unsustainable and a threat to the long run viability our town.

I emailed some friends two years ago with my initial thoughts. This turned into a great “reply to all” debate leading into the school budget vote and we were successful in defeating the budget twice within 30 days, which hadn’t happened in eons. This, in turn, led to the school board proposing a much more responsible budget this past year (2009), one that resulted in holding the line on property taxes for the first time in memory. We also supported the candidacy for the board of Graham Anderson, who beat an incumbent handily (another unheard of event). This effort was not “anti-school” or “anti-children,” it was simply a desire to better balance the needs of all constituents in our town.

We have ventured beyond school issues, of course. We pushed hard to elect reformer Rob Astorino to County Executive, and Rob won by an incredible 16 points, a 26 point swing from four years ago. The message is that grass roots activism can work, particularly in certain environments. One of those environments is now, because people have realized that their political faith in others has led to them getting screwed.

There are a few of us (I am not alone) that have started paying a lot of attention to what goes on in local politics, and we pass on what we learn to you. We recognize that not everyone has the time or inclination to follow this on their own – it can get tedious, for sure – so we make it easy for them by sending out these periodic updates. Call it Cliff Notes for good citizenship. You are free to choose what to do with the information. Obviously, we love it when people get involved, but simply showing up to vote on things like school budgets makes a huge difference, too. (Many readers had never voted in a school budget vote before, or even knew you could.)

These updates- now a blog - take a view, which you are free to agree or disagree with. (Either way, go ahead and post a comment!) The overarching view is that our property taxes are too high and are unsustainable, and there must be fiscal sanity within our local public institutions. This is not merely a “greed” argument, as our opponents are wont to say, it is a fundamentally moral one. High taxes are socially corrosive. When taxes are so high that the elderly can’t live here anymore and are often forced to move away from their families, it is no longer about greed. It is about the very character of where we live. Down-county towns like Bronxville have become school mills, where families come for ten or twenty years, and then leave as soon as their kids graduate. High taxes are tolerated as de facto private school tuition. Is this what we are to become? God, I hope not. The choice is ours.

Do I have kids in system?

Not right now, although I did have a daughter attend BVES.

Is this effort affiliated with any political party?

No. I am a registered Republican but I am mainly concerned with fiscal prudence (although I reserve the right to talk about anything I think is important). But political irresponsibility is not limited to any particular party. Joe Bruno is a Republican and deserves to go to jail. Vinnie Leibel is a waste of space. Hopefully someone investigates every last person in Albany.

Should you only read this if I live in the Bedford School District?

The issues that affect our town and school district are the exact same ones affecting every other school district in our area. You can take out the words “Bedford” and substitute “Katonah-Lewisboro” or “Chappaqua” and not change anything else. Further, we will frequently deal with issues that are more regional, as was the case with the County Executive election.

-Scott Johnston

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