Elmont school budget revised for revote June 19

Although the Elmont Union Free School District Board of Education sliced nearly $1 million from its originally proposed 2012-13 budget — which failed to get the required 60 percent approval from voters on May 15 — some residents who attended a public forum on June 12 said they will be unable to afford the revised budget, which will be put to a revote on June 19.

The board revisited its $78.5 million budget plan this month, reducing programs to generate a savings of nearly $971,000. Superintendent Al Harper said this equates to a 4.9 percent tax-levy increase for residents of Elmont, down from the 6.87 percent increase the original budget would have required.

Harper said it was unfortunate that school officials would eliminate summer education and defer building and equipment repairs under the revised proposal. However, he added, more programs and jobs would be on the chopping block if the budget is not passed in the revote.

“There would be reductions and cuts in all areas,” he said. “It would be devastating.”

If the proposal is voted down, the district will be forced to reduce spending by an additional $2.4 million. Harper said this could result in the loss of the full-day kindergarten program, up to 30 teaching positions, additional support-staff jobs and after-school programs.

At the public forum, at Dutch Broadway Elementary School, some residents said that in spite of this, they planned to vote the budget down. Virginia Amato, who has lived in Elmont for more than 50 years, said that the tax increase that would result from its passage is too much for the unemployed and the elderly, in particular, to bear.

“I’ve been out of work, and I have a sick mother,” Amato said. “And older residents are on fixed incomes, they’re on Social Security — they can’t afford higher taxes. I’m still going to be voting no.”

Others said they were disappointed by the revised budget, but not because of the tax increases. Some parents said they were discouraged that the summer education program was chosen for elimination in the board’s effort to reduce spending.