Bellmore-Merrick School District officials eye tax reduction

9 percent state aid increase frees up funds

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The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District recently received a bigger-than-expected state aid increase, so officials say they will give back the extra funds to local property owners by reducing taxes in 2017-18, though it was unclear by how much.

At an April 24 PTA meeting, Superintendent John DeTommaso and Assistant Superintendent for Business Kate Freeman presented the final $153.7 million budget and answered questions from attendees.

District residents will vote on the budget May 16.

The 2017-18 budget represents a 3.99 percent increase in spending over the current year’s spending plan. To balance out that increase, the district received $26.1 million in state aid — a 9.21 percent increase over 2016-17.

“We thought that we would get some additional state aid,” said DeTommaso. “We just didn’t predict how [high] this number would be.

“We put it right toward lowering the tax levy,” the superintendent said, adding that that brought the levy hike down to 3.15 percent. Then, using more capital reserves, the district brought the levy increase down to 2.98 percent. The district was legally allowed a tax levy cap of 3.23 percent.

In the previous four years, the tax levy increase was as low as 1.51 percent and as high as 3.48 percent.

According to DeTommaso, this year’s tax-levy increase is primarily due to debt service on the facilities bond that district voters passed in 2013 — for which more than half of the work has been completed. Debt service for facilities improvements is exempted from the state tax-levy cap.

The superintendent said that his hopes have been high since the end of the Gap Elimination Adjustment in the 2015-16 fiscal year, when Bellmore-Merrick received a 16.45 percent increase in state aid. The GEA was implemented by the state in 2010 and significantly reduced aid to school districts to close a $10 billion state budget deficit. Now that the gap has been eliminated, DeTommaso said the district is looking forward to receiving even more aid in the future.

Overall, the budget will maintain academic offerings, extracurricular activities, sports and staffing.

According to DeTommaso, the most daunting expense comes from the district’s $5.28 million debt service, which will rise by $2.5 million between the current year and 2017-18.

The bond includes HVAC installations, science lab renovations, kitchen equipment for the Culinary and Hospitality Applied Management Program and bathroom reconstruction. It has been divided into four phases of work, with Phase II to be completed this June.

In addition to paying off the facilities bond, the district will also pay off an Energy Performance Contract that took effect last October. The EPC involves multiple facility renovations to promote energy efficiency, including solar panels on school buildings and L.E.D. lighting.

The next largest expense is health insurance, which is set to increase by $1.4 million.

Also discussed at the PTA meeting was the district’s plan to bolster security by creating a 6 to 10 p.m. guard position and increasing hourly wages for all security guards. DeTommaso said that the district has not seen security breaches, but increasing students’ safety is a continuing priority for the Board of Education.

Residents will vote on the budget in two parts: Proposition One and Two. Last year, Proposition Two created a capital reserve fund when it passed with 77 percent of the vote. This year, residents will vote on whether the district will start using the $1.51 million currently in the reserve for capital projects, which could include replacing Calhoun’s track, replacing fuel tanks, and improving classroom floors and ceilings.

The board is also considering the district’s proposition to sell the Jerusalem Avenue school building to the Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services. The board is awaiting an appraisal by the building’s realtor, Breslin Realty, before reaching a decision. Trustees have not set a date to vote on the plan. If the board approves the proposal, the community must vote on it, on a date that is to be determined.