North Bellmore cuts summer school after aid is reduced

The North Bellmore School District is planning a 2.49 percent increase in the 2010-11 budget over the current spending plan. Expenditures would rise by $1 million, to $47 million, under the tentative budget.

If approved, that would mean an increase in the tax levy of 4.58 percent. The district has yet to announce how much property owners' tax bills would actually increase. Had the state not cut $1 million in state aid, the tax levy increase would be 1.41 percent, Assistant Superintendent for Business Toni Cincotta said at a meeting on Monday night.

Anticipating that state aid will not be renewed, district officials cut regular summer school from the budget proposal. Salaries for summer school teachers in the 2009-10 budget total $30,000. Cincotta noted that special-education summer school will not be cut.

The administrative budget, which makes up 11.9 percent of the overall budget, rose by $2,000. Cincotta said that a least half of that increase was due to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's payroll tax. "It was a hit to the expenditure side," she said.

Administrators agreed to a salary freeze midway through this year to slow spending growth. Teachers' contracts are currently in negotiation, and salary freezes are not an option for trimming the budget.

The capital budget makes up 9 percent of the overall budget. Superintendent Arnold Goldstein and Cincotta pointed out that a large part of the capital budget depends on the bond vote scheduled for March 24. If the bond is not approved, necessary capital improvements will be made by way of the budget.

The program budget makes up 79.1 percent of the budget. Cincotta noted that the cost of providing transportation for students in private schools is over $200,000, far higher than she had initially anticipated. In addition to cutting summer school, five classroom positions will be cut. The staff managed to keep the budget increase low due to a decline in enrollment.

Cincotta announced that she had received information that a bill had passed in the state Senate that, if passed by the Assembly and signed by the governor, would cap tax levies. Bill S6212A states that the levy increase would be capped at the lesser of 4 percent or 120 percent of the inflation factor. The inflation factor, which is based on the Consumer Price Index, is low due to the sluggish economy. For the upcoming year, the inflation factor appears to be smaller and would greatly decrease the tax levy for North Bellmore, Cincotta said. If the bill were to pass, further cuts would have to be made. This news did not sit well with board members. Closing a building and cutting even more staff were discussed.

"There's no fluff in this budget ... It's going to hit our kids; that's the bottom line," said Trustee Nina Lanci.

The bill, which was proposed by Sen. Jeffrey Klein, the Democratic deputy majority leader from the 34th district, passed the Senate on March 18. Klein's press secretary, Gwen Rocco, said that if voters wish to override the cap, they could vote to do so.

"Senator Klein's legislation will provide significant savings to local property taxpayers by establishing a cap on school property taxes," she said. "Any school tax levy exceeding the cap must be approved by 55 percent of school district voters, while a school budget that falls within the cap only requires the approval of 50 percent of the voters."

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