Here's the Daily Gazette article about the February 13, 2012 Board of Education budget presentation. [MORE]
Just like every other school district in New York, Scotia-Glenville will need to make sharp reductions in order to comply with the state's property tax levy cap - cuts that may add up to more than $848 per student in the 2012-13 school year.
Superintendent Susan Swartz told the Board of Education tonight that carry-forward budget spending would have to be cut by at least $2.3 million - more than $848 for each of the 2,711 students at S-G - in order to bring the proposed tax levy increase down to 2.93 percent. That is Scotia-Glenville's specific cap under the new law.
To bring the rate down to the symbolic 2 percent level would require another $230,000 to bring the tax increase to 2 percent - for an average of more than $933 per student.
Here is the superintendent's presentation. [MORE]
A few of the highlights:
• Keeping everything in the budget as it is today would require a spending increase of $2.87 million, a 6.1 percent hike.
• The district's state-mandated property tax levy cap would allow spending to rise by a maximum $745,053, or 2.93 percent, property tax levy cap increase. The cap is determined by eight fiscal factors, which are detailed in the attachment. Spending beyond that amount would require a 60 percent+ approval vote on the budget in May. Last year, the budget was approved by a 68.5 percent vote, but that is unusual; most years, 55 to 59 percent approve the budget.
Here is a brochure about the property tax levy cap law. [MORE] PDF
• When considering revenues as they stand today, the budget will have to be cut by $2.3 million - more than $848 per student - in order to reach the 2.93% levy cap; if the Board of Education were to keep the increase to 2 percent, that would require a spending reduction of $2.53 million - more than $933 per student.
Swartz will return to the Board of Education on Feb. 27 with a discussion of what is mandatory and what is optional for schools to offer, what would increased class sizes look like and a general discussion of where she is looking for reductions. On March 5, she will present a budget that includes the $2.3 million in reductions.
"Whatever I bring you will be painful and you will not be happy with those things; I will not be happy with those things," she told the board. "But we are in a situation where we are left with few choices."
She also cautioned that she can not just go after the "low hanging fruit" or easy cutbacks. She has to dig deeper "while being mindful of the district's strategic goals and to maintain as much of the essence of the school district as possible." She noted that dramatically cutting back on things like the cleanliness of the schools, hiking class sizes or eliminating electives would make the school district less attractive to newcomers and do a real disservice to Scotia-Glenville's students and families.
While the governor has proposed a small increase in state aid ($130,477 or 0.83 percent), Scotia-Glenville is again being asked to pay a "gap elimination adjustment" of $3.117 million to the state to help fill the deficit at the state level. On top of that, the district's building aid ratio was decreased this year, just as payments for the building project have begun. Total state aid has been cut or frozen for the past four years.
As Board of Education President Pam Carbone noted, the budget would be more than balanced with the gap elimination adjustment payment to the state.
Since the 2006-07 budget, the Scotia-Glenville school tax rate has risen from $19.21 per $1,000 assessed value that year to the current $20.39 per $1,000. That is a 6.1 percent increase over six years or an average of 1.02 percent per year.
Scotia-Glenville’s diligence has come as the state has frozen or reduced state aid to schools while health care and pension costs for its nearly 500 employees have risen steadily.
The school district’s 2006-07 budget stood at $42.01 million; this year’s budget totals $47.08 million. That is a spending increase of 12.1 percent over six years or an average of 2.02 percent per year.
As the economy bottomed out over the past few years, Scotia-Glenville has responded:
• In the 2009-10 S-G budget, state aid was frozen, $1.3 million in proposed expenses and 5.2 full-time positions were cut.
• In 2010-11, state aid was cut by $2.3 million. Proposed spending was cut by $2 million and 19.7 positions eliminated.
• In the current 2011-12 budget, budget-to-budget spending was reduced by nearly $250,000 as state aid was cut by $1.27 million – $473 for every Scotia-Glenville student.
The Board of Education plans to meet on Mondays, February 27, March 5, March 12, March 19, March 26 and April 2 as board members develop and shape the 2012-13 budget. The meetings will be held at 7 p.m. each evening at the Middle School library.
There are also plans for community forums
during the process to gauge public concerns about some of the
proposed reductions.
