Superintendent: Decreasing aid, tax levy cap will lead to more budget cuts
Dec. 7, 2011
| Community urged to get involved |
| District officials expect Governor Cuomo to release his proposed 2012-13 state budget around Jan. 15, 2012. Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Spring says that means we have a "window" in which to speak to elected leaders to push for changes in public school funding for the next school year. |
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The combination of four years of flat or decreased state aid for education, the new property tax levy cap and a state funding formula that is deeply flawed will lead to significant budget cuts for 2012-2013.
"We are going to be talking about what non-mandated things, if any, can we keep in our budget. Things like art, music, library. All the things we value about Mohonasen," Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Spring told the board of education at it's Dec. 5 meeting. "What happens to a community when you have to make those decisions?"
Spring said this year's budget conversations will be very different then those in recent years. After years of cuts and declining state aid, the conversation will be much more serious and will be about more programs that the students and community value.
"We don't have a lot of padding," she said.
Last year, the district cut roughly 34 positions, received concessions from bargaining units, made across-the-board reductions to programs and services, and increased the tax levy by 2.5 percent to fill a $3.4 million budget gap left by state aid cuts. Looking ahead, Spring said, there is a $3.32 million gap between the 2011-12 budget and the 2012-13 rollover budget.
Download Spring's complete presentation from the Dec. 5 meeting (PDF)
Watch video of the complete presentation
Flawed state aid formula
Not only is another year of flat or decreased state aid projected, but school officials say the district is experiencing a "funding cliff" after the loss of $800,000 in federal "Jobs" funding that was part of President Obama's economic stimulus package approved by Congress a few years ago. Spring also cited the state aid funding formula. When aid cuts are made, she said, they hit poorer districts like Mohonasen harder then wealthier districts.
Spring compared Mohonasen to four other districts in the state with a similar population. Most of these districts have much higher budgets, are much less reliant on state funding and saw state aid cuts per student that were well below what Mohonasen has experienced.
For example, Mohonasen has a budget of $42,720,170 and a tax levy of $21,880,276 for 2011-12. In the current state budget, the district saw a cut of $3.4 million in state aid or an enacted state aid cut per student of $192 ABOVE the state average of $937. And to compare, a district with a similar number of students has a budget of $108,918,239 and a tax levy of $98,445,239. That same district saw a state aid cut of $959,001 or $617 BELOW the state average for cuts per student. See complete chart from the presentation (PDF).
The flawed state aid formula has been highlighted in recent months by the Statewide School Finance Consortium. Click here to check out their website and learn more.
"Cap" not really a cap
One new challenge for the upcoming budget season is New York's New Property Tax Levy "Cap", which was signed into law by the governor in June.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Denise Swezey outlined the legislation for the board, saying that rather than a cap the new law calls for a threshold that determines what level of voter support is needed for a district budget to be approved. The public will still vote on the budget each May.
After following an eight-step formula, she said, each district will determine their own threshold.
Then, if the district's proposed levy increase is within the threshold, a simple majority (more than 50 percent) voter approval is needed. If the district decides to put out a budget that has a tax levy increase above the threshold, then 60 percent or more voter approval is required for the budget to pass.
"The district has an option," Swezey said.
She also noted that despite the fact that the cap has been called a "2 percent cap", it is far from it. Each district will have a different threshold, she said, based on the calculation outlined in the law.
She then outlined the tax levy limit formula, the exemptions -- or exclusions -- from the formula, and walked the board through some possible budget scenarios. Based on what we know right now, she said, Mohonasen's threshold tax levy increase is somewhere between 3.35 percent and 4.24 percent. Click here to download that part of the presentation (PDF).
