Lawmakers adopt austere New York state budget, Rockville Centre sees little restoration of school aid

For just the seventh time since 1975 — and for the first time since 2006 — the New York state Legislature adopted a budget before the April 1 deadline.

Lawmakers in the Democratic-led Assembly passed final budget bills early on March 31, hours after the Republican-controlled Senate approved the spending plan, signing off on a $132.5 billion budget that includes steep spending cuts, especially to education and health care. The approved plan reportedly reduces a projected $15 billion deficit next year to a more manageable $2 billion, without raising taxes or borrowing money.

Passage of the budget, which had broad, bipartisan support in both chambers, gave Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, his most significant victory since taking office in January. “This budget included tough choices and difficult cuts that had to be made to close the deficit,” said Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-RVC) in a written statement. “But it also points New York in a new direction toward lower taxes, more jobs and a brighter future.”

Skelos said New York will spend less, tax less and create new private sector jobs. He also said the spending plan would get rid of some of the “devastating” tax and fee increases that had been enacted. Skelos praised the governor for standing with Republicans to oppose the extension of the so-called “millionaires tax” on individuals earning more than $1 million a year — a move that he said would produce billions of dollars in tax relief next year and allow businesses to keep more of their money and reinvest it to promote growth and new jobs.

Skelos said the enacted budget restores $272 million in education cuts initially proposed by Cuomo, and achieves regional balance in school aid, ensuring that every region of the state is treated “fairly and equitably.” He also said the spending plan includes funds “to avoid $190 million in cost shifts that would have impacted property taxpayers.”

Not everyone shares that glowing assessment. “The state is still playing smoke and mirror games,” and school district taxpayers won’t see much of that money, said Robert Bartels, Rockville Centre school’s assistant superintendent for

business.

Bartels said there is little change to Rockville Centre’s smaller share of state aid next year, down more than $960,000 from this year, and as a result, his preliminary figures that show a “worst case scenario” of a 5.49 percent tax levy increase next year still stands — which could amount to a $400 increase in the average homeowner’s taxes next year.

“In the current year,” Bartels explained, “the state reduced aid by almost $500,000 in federal funds that had been used to make it look like the state was giving us more this year. Then, on April 1, they made an ‘accounting change’ and took it away. So it looks like the state restored $500,000, but in reality it is only $127,000.”

Bartels said the most Rockville Centre schools could apply toward the tax levy would be $60,000, but that he would recommend that the school board keep the plan exactly as it is now, to leave “wiggle room” for mid-year cuts in state aid “that we continue to see.”

The proposed 2011-12 spending plan of $95,666,709, a budget increase of 2.41 percent over current spending (the lowest in 19 years), contains no program cuts to education and additional spending for one elementary-level foreign language teacher. The reduced state aid and a drop in revenue from the district’s interest income are also factors. Bartels said auditors will probably note that the Teachers Retirement System won’t be fully funded in the coming year, which could affect the district’s bond rating for both short

and long-term borrowing.