Locust Valley makes final budget presentation

Everyone worked very hard collaboratively to try to find any inefficiencies where we could to try to bring the number down to two percent.”

Toni Meliambro, assistant superintendent for business affairs and human resources, Locust Valley Central School District

Monday saw the fourth budget presentation for the Locust Valley Central School District since the start of the budget process, focusing on changes to the different revenue streams that provide funding for the district. It was the final public presentation of the budget before the vote by the Board of Education.

Toni Meliambro, the district’s assistant superintendent for business affairs and human resources, admitted that while some budget numbers regarding state aid could change in the coming weeks as they await information from the government, the budget-making process was over.

Meliambro then explained that the district is seeking to increase the tax levy by 2 percent, for a total increase of roughly $1.7 million. The tax levy is the total amount of funds a school district can collect and can be raised or dropped through the budget. The maximum allowable tax levy increase is 2.61 percent.

Although the majority of the district’s funds come from the tax levy, the district is looking to maximizing and calculating their other revenue streams. These included special education programs which other districts paid them to access, as well as revenue from properties that share borders with other districts.

Meliambro also emphasized the importance of state aid, which has increased by just over half a million dollars compared to last year. And the district’s interest earnings have increased tenfold since last year, from $40,000 to roughly $400,000, based on rising interest rates.

The district will be receiving over $700,000 in funding from LIPA through “pilots,” which the company pays the school district in lieu of taxes. In all, the funds the district receives through its alternate revenue streams totals to roughly $7.5 million, which together with the total from the proposed tax levy increase will leave the district with a budget of roughly $94 million.

Meliambro also emphasized the need for the district to vote on establishing a new capital reserve fund, which she argued was essential for addressing future projects such as replacing playground equipment across the district’s elementary schools and replacing the middle school’s roof. Funds to create the capital reserve would not come from the tax levy or from raising more money from district residents but would be drawn from the proposed budget’s surplus.

“The reserve accounts that we had opened in past years have expired, they reached the maximum allowance, so we need to open a new one,” Meliambro continued.

A capital reserve fund is used to pay for short-term and occasionally unexpected yet essential expenses, such as repairing damaged property or replacing aging equipment. The vote for establishing the capital reserve fund is separate from the budget vote and will be listed under “Proposition 2” on the day of the vote.

Janine Sampino, interim superintendent for the district, thanked Meliambro and her team for their hard work in putting together this year’s budget stressing the importance of its passage.
“All the wonderful programs that we’re maintaining,” Sampino said. “all the work that we are able to do in the schools is all thanks to our budget.”