WHAT WILL LOCAL POLITICIANS DO WITH THEIR CHECKS?

Byline: - Daily News

IF the politicians are any indication, a fair portion of the $38 billion in federal tax rebate checks scheduled to begin mailing this week will be going to charity.

Los Angeles city Councilman Nate Holden says he ``will give the money to a charitable organization ... people who really need it.

``Rather than a rebate, the money should have gone to education, health care, homeless shelters, any program that serves to enhance the lives of those in need. Imagine how many textbooks or library books or medicines could have been purchased with the money it will take to pay the administrative costs associated (with) sending out this rebate.''

Council President Alex Padilla will be donating a portion of his rebate to help rebuild Mary Immaculate Church in Pacoima, which had suffered damage in the Northridge Earthquake.

Councilman Dennis Zine will add his rebate check to the $25,000 fund he established from his salary this year to donate to charities in his district.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein plans to donate her rebate to charity, too.

Assemblyman Keith S. Richman, R-Granada Hills, understands the needs of giving, and giving, to higher education: ``As soon as I get the check I am going to deposit it in my savings account. Then, when my daughter's next tuition payment for college is due, I am going to take it right out.''

Fellow Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, acknowledges the reality of family finances: ``I'm not quite sure how my rebate check will be spent. My wife and daughter don't usually include me when making their money-spending decisions.''

Former president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Joel Fox has the best plan: ``It has been said that Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan in 1626 for about $24 worth of trinkets and cloth. If instead of buying Manhattan he had put the $24 into a bank account paying 6 percent compound interest per year and left the money there continuously, today he would have a bank account of approximately $65 billion, ignoring income taxes, of course. I will be using my tax rebate to look for similar investments.''

Mayor James Hahn and Councilman Jack Weiss, who both said they hadn't thought about the rebate, will no doubt be among those who are thankful the Internal Revenue Service is sending letters to alert taxpayers that checks will be in the mail, at a cost of $20 million. Of course, 523,000 of the notices mailed so far may indicate the wrong amount. Maybe it is best that prospective recipients haven't thought about it.