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Light Rain North Merrick to vote on schools budget
Proposed budget: $29,936,000
Change: +$419,000 (+1.42 percent)
Tax levy: $21,374,087
Change: +$235,481 (+1.11 percent)
Tax cap allowable increase: 2.18 percent
Tax impact: The average North Merrick household’s taxes would increase $18, but homeowners should receive rebate checks from the state because the budget is below the district’s tax cap.
Budget highlights: The budget for next school year would sustain funding for the district’s functions and programs, according to Superintendent David Feller.
“We’re able to maintain everything — staff, programs, building maintenance — in large part because we were able to significantly reduce our pension contributions,” Feller said.
Feller said that changes in school enrollment will cause the district to add a kindergarten class at Camp Avenue Elementary School and eliminate a kindergarten class at Old Mill Road School next school year. As a result, the number of teachers working districtwide will remain the same.
The budget also includes funds for new computers for instructional purposes. The district aims to have one computer per student in an upper grade, but administrators have not yet decided which one.
Revenue: The state awarded $6,615,733 in aid for North Merrick in 2015-16, a significant increase of $509,855, or 8.35 percent, from 2014-15.
“The important takeaways are our budget increase and our levy increase are the lowest they’ve been in maybe decades,” Feller said.
He explained that the district prepared an extremely conservative spending plan this year as a prudent measure while the State Education Department, at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s direction, withheld for months information about school aide. When districts at last learned, in March, how much they would receive in aide, North Merrick found it would receive more than anticipated. Additionally, the state lowered the amount the district will have to contribute for employees’ pensions next year.
“I think we caught a break this year with the reduction in contributions for retirement,” Feller said. “At least the next year, the fiscal outlook is looking good, beyond that we’ll have to see year to year.”
The superintendent was enthusiastic that the state restored $232,209 of the district’s gap elimination adjustment, or GEA, an annual school aide cut the state uses to balance its budget. But $406,824 remains cut.
Voting information: Polls are open from 2 to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, at Fayette Elementary School.
