Guv proposes state aid cut

On Jan. 19, Governor David Paterson unveiled his 2010-11 budget plan, which included $1.1 billion reduction in state aid to schools, which would take nearly $1.5 million from Oceanside’s coffers.

The cut would mean a 7.61 percent reduction in the Oceanside School District’s state aid, or $1,433,839—just 1.2 percent of the district’s 2009-10 operating budget of $124 million.

“I think these are difficult times,” said Oceanside Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown. “And I think everybody has to tighten their belt a little tighter. And what we’re going to try to do, going through our budget process, is try to keep our budget as low as possible, keep the tax levy as low as possible, and try to keep programs for kids intact.”

The district will unveil its first draft budget at a special Board of Education meeting on Feb. 1. Until then, the budget is still fluid, and the district is adapting it to include these proposed cuts.

“We’re going to assume the money’s not there, and if it part of it comes back, we’re going to assume it’s there,” Brown said. “We’re going to try to work around it as best we can.” According to Superintendent of Business Louis Frontario, who oversees the budget process, the district will try to soften the impact of the cuts by increasing the money from the fund reserve from $2.4 million this year to $3 million. Additionally, the district has a one-shot deal of $100,000 left over from a bond issue that is also being applied towards the budget’s revenues.

“When all was said and done and we had everything finished, we had $100,000 which we now have to give back to our taxpayers,” said Frontario. One of the big concerns for the district in the upcoming year is the contingency budget. If the district’s proposed budget is voted down by taxpayers twice, it is forced to go to a contingency budget, which has a mandated tax levy increase that the district cannot change. This year, the tax levy increase for contingency budgets is zero.

“I can’t think of a time when it has [happened], and I can’t tell you what the effects will be until we have a draft budget where I feel that it’s pretty much done, then I’ll try to run with the numbers [for a contingency budget] and see what that actually means to us,” Frontario said. “It can’t be good.”

For now, the district’s first concern is finalizing a budget for the 2010-11 school year, even if it means working around the $1.4 million cut in state aid.

“If the Legislature comes up with more money in March, there’s plenty of time to change things,” said Brown. “We’re going to try to come up with a budget that’s as low as possible, that increases taxes as little as possible and try not to cut programs for kids. It sounds difficult to do, but we’re going to try to do it.”

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