50.0°,
Light Rain School board adopts budget
Spending plan totals over $131 million, increases nearly 2 percent
The Oceanside Board of Education adopted the 2011-12 school district budget at its fourth budget workshop on March 28, agreeing to a tax levy increase of nearly four percent.
Up 1.98 percent from this year, the new spending plan totals $131,130,183. It will be voted on by Oceanside residents on May 17.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown said the district will receive a small portion of the $2.3 million it originally lost in state aid from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal. Due to a legislative agreement in Albany last week, school districts are getting additional funding; Brown predicted Oceanside will receive between $200,000 and $500,000. His prediction is reflected in the spending plan. Brown estimated that state aid will total $15,883,000 before the start of classes in the fall. “But we don’t know exactly what formula [the legislature] is going to follow,” he stipulated.
What Brown does know, however, is that Oceanside’s rental income will jump by approximately $2,000. He said there will be one additional tenant at the counseling center. Also rising is budget revenue from the Department of Community Activities (DOCA), which is funded by the fees that residents pay for activities.
Dropping on the revenue side for the 2011-12 year, Brown said, will be interest income because of low interest rates. The district will also witness a reduction in unneeded authorizations from a 2003 bond issue, which was completed this year.
Revenue from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been budgeted, too. Brown estimated that the district will receive approximately $288,000 as a payback from the MTA payroll tax that all employers in the state pay. This year, the district has already received some money from the corporation— 70 percent — and next year the rest will be returned.
Overall, the total budget revenue is $22,397,497, down $1,605,892. As a result, the tax levy will increase by 3.97 percent.
“The tax levy will be going down once we figure out how much money we’re getting back in state aid,” Brown assured.
