Partial exemption considered

Lawrence resident Bill Rhinehart, a military veteran, is not pleased that the Lawrence School District has not approved the partial tax exemption for veterans that the Hewlett-Woodmere district voted for unanimously in September of 2014.
“We fought for our country, it’s not good to be turned down like this,” said Rhinehart, who was a corporal and infantryman in the U.S. Marines 1st Marine division. He saw combat during the Vietnam War from 1968-‘70.
The exemption is based on New York state’s real property tax law. The amount of the exemptions depends on a school district’s tax base. In Hewlett-Woodmere there is a basic exemption of $12,000 for all wartime veterans, an additional $8,000 for those who served in a combat zone and another $40,000 for those who served in a combat zone and suffered a “service-connected” disability.
Scott McInnes, president of the Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education, said that the trustees “heard an overwhelming level of support” at its second hearing about the exemption.
“The hearing was extremely well attended, and everyone who spoke at the meeting expressed their gratitude to those who had served their country and urged the board to grant the exemption as a way of giving something back to the veterans within the community,” said McInnes, who served in the Navy Seabee Reserves from 1989-’99. Longtime Trustee Stephen Witt also served in the Seabees. Syd Mandelbaum, commander of the Lawrence-Cedarhurst American Legion Post 3329, said he is baffled why a school district that covers several communities in the Five Towns and Atlantic Beach, and has more than its share of veterans wouldn’t approve the partial tax exemption. “I have a hard time with this,” said Mandelbaum, who lives in Cedarhurst. It’s just a puzzlement to me. It’s a very small exemption and it would really help our veterans whose average age is over 75.”
The exemption has been considered by Lawrence trustees in the recent past and continues to be discussed. “I don’t want to comment on an issue that is under consideration,” said Board President Murray Forman. He added that the district is very proud of its record of holding down taxes.