It's not just high taxes

It's not just high taxes...
...it's the quality of services, too
October 12, 2006


If Eliot Spitzer and John Faso were really listening to Long Islanders on their visits this week, the gubernatorial candidates would have learned that voters have more on their minds than just high taxes. They also care a lot about the quality of the services that the tax levies buy.

Whether the comments came at a Central Islip home, which Spitzer visited with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), or at Briarcliff College, where Faso held a town meeting, the tension between cutting and spending was clear.

A recent college graduate, living in his parents' basement, wanted help with the cost of housing so he can stay on Long Island. A middle-aged woman wanted help with nursing care for her mother. A student and a couple with teenage kids wanted help with college costs. And so it went.

Spitzer, Faso and Clinton all talked about the need to reduce unfunded mandates and fix school-aid formulas and, yes, to cut property taxes. And that's a good thing. They also showed that they care about suburban issues. That was a legitimate concern of Long Islanders, with Attorney General Spitzer a New York City resident, Faso an upstater and Clinton often tied to Washington - and with the statewide races apparently so uncompetitive that candidates might feel they don't need to focus on much beyond appealing to their political bases.

But Long Island isn't a one-issue region. And while folks here are straining under one of the nation's highest tax burdens, they appear willing to pay a high price if they get a high return - and an honest one. They are willing to invest in schools, roads and open space if their leaders make a compelling case and manage the state's resources well.