Malverne administrators present 'gloomy' budget

When presenting their proposed 2011-12 budget to the Board of Education at its Feb. 8 meeting, Malverne school district administrators described the situation as “gloomy,” thanks primarily to state aid cuts and sharp increases in expenses.

Superintendent Dr. James Hunderfund, along with his deputy and assistant superintendents and business administrator, presented the budget with a disclaimer, saying that the state and local governments have shifted the burden onto local taxpayers.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a $1.5 billion school aid cut, which translates into a a 7.9 percent cut for the Malverne school district. State-mandated retirement costs have grown drastically — 88 percent for the Employees’ Retirement System alone. Nassau County has implemented a sewer tax that will hike the district’s water bill by nearly 215 percent.

Further adding to the district’s troubles, its debt service has more than doubled, BOCES special education tuition costs have spiked and new academic standards have created a need for more services. Worst of all, according to Hunderfund, is that mandate relief is nowhere in sight. “It’s just ridiculous the way it’s being handled,” he said, “but we will march on.”

Hunderfund worked with his deputy and assistant superintendents and business administrator to put together a budget with a realistic increase. Had the district decided to go with a rollover budget — keeping the current year’s budget as is and only adding mandated and inflationary increases — it would have had to ask for a 13 percent increase. Deeming that an exorbitant amount, the four administrators spent two and a half months reworking the budget to bring the increase down to 3.89 percent.