2010-2011 Budget
Proposed 2010-2011 Budget
Questions & Answers
April 22, 2010
How will the budget cuts affect students?
When making budget cuts to close the $3.2 million budget gap left by a sharp decline in state aid for next year, district officials tried to trim discretionary spending – meaning costs that are not mandated, contractual, safety related or regulatory – as much as possible. Because of that, large programmatic changes will not be necessary at this point.
The largest impact of the cuts on students will be a slight increase in class sizes. At the elementary level, class sizes will rise by approximately one to two students per section and the number of sections in each grade will drop by approximately one or two. In both middle school and high school, where class sizes vary based on the specific course, class sizes will not change dramatically overall.
What happens if a majority of residents vote no on the school budget?
Under New York State law, if a school budget is defeated, the Board of Education can either put the same or revised budget up for another vote or move directly to a contingency budget. The Mohonasen Board of Education’s philosophy has always been to put forth the best possible, bottom-line budget for the first vote. Therefore, if a majority of residents vote no, the district would adopt a contingency budget. There can be no more votes after that to restore funds eliminated under contingency.
By law, spending in a contingency budget is
capped at the lesser of 120 percent of the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) for the prior calendar year or 4 percent.
The CPI for 2009 was -0.4 percent, which means the contingency cap
for 2010-2011 would be a negative. Since this was never the intent
of the law, state officials have set the cap at 0 percent. However,
there is a proposal in front of state leaders to use a five-year CPI
average of somewhere between 3 percent and 2.5 percent.
Under a contingency budget a district can’t spend money in certain areas by law. Assuming a 0 percent cap, an additional $245,440 would have to be cut. Under this scenario, there would be programmatic reductions, including cuts to summer school and academic intervention services (AIS). There would also be cuts to student supplies and limits placed on the use of buildings and grounds after school hours.
Assuming a 2.5 percent cap, an additional $31,450 would have to be cut.
How will the budget proposal affect my taxes?
If the proposed budget is approved by voters
on May 18, the tax levy – or total amount of money collected through
taxes – will increase by 2.3 percent.
Tax rates, or the amount collected per $1,000 of assessed property
value will not be set until August. This is because tax rates are
determined by the assessed value of property within each town, which
is finalized by the town over the summer, and equalization rates,
which are set by the state’s Office of Real Property Tax Services.
What tax exemptions can Mohonasen residents receive?
The New York State School Tax Relief (STAR) program allows property owners to exempt a certain amount of the assessed value of their property, and thus lowers their school tax bill. There are two levels of STAR: Basic STAR applies to all owner-occupied, primary residences and Enhanced STAR is for senior citizens whose income does not exceed a set limit.
The district has no control over the STAR program and does not estimate tax impacts based on STAR savings. For information on the program, visit www.orps.state.ny.us or call your local assessor’s office.
It is also important to know that the STAR legislation allows for the amount of the exemption to be reduced annually. When that happens, it can result in property owners seeing a greater then expected increase in their tax bills.
Additionally, in an effort to respond to the concerns of fixed-income senior citizens and people with disabilities, the Mohonasen Board of Education passed the maximum Real Property Tax Exemption in February 2007.
Residents over the age of 65 and qualifying residents of any age with disabilities who have an annual income of $35,400 or less can be exempted from paying taxes on 5 to 50 percent of their home’s value – thus reducing their school tax bills. These exemptions are in addition to the Basic STAR exemption or Enhanced STAR exemption.
Applications for these exemptions must be filed with your town assessor’s office and must be renewed annually.
How does Mohonasen involve residents as the budget is being developed?
This year, Mohonasen officials invited all community members to take part in a Budget Review Committee. In addition, a community budget forum was held in early March for all Mohonasen residents to learn about the proposed budget, ask questions and provide feedback.
Also, for the second time in two years, officials surveyed residents on their budget priorities, the budget process, etc., through an online survey that was open to all district residents. A total of 219 people completed the survey.
What is the return on our investment?
Mohonasen is committed to being a high-quality, innovative and caring school district. District officials continually strive to provide high-quality academic and extra-curricular programming in an atmosphere where students and families feel cared for and connected.
Mohonasen’s test scores and graduation rate continue to improve year after year and the average daily attendance rate continues to be above 95 percent. District wide there are many signs of success, whether it be in the full-day kindergarten classrooms where students are reading at levels far exceeding those at this point in previous years; or at the middle school where because of the Success is Required Program more than 95 percent of students continue to pass every quarter of every class; or at the high school where with the support of transition teams more students then ever are graduating in four years.
