Rockville Centre school board begins budget discussions

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Though still early in the process, the Rockville Centre School District administrators do not anticipate any major changes to programs or staff for the next school year as they begin to work on the 2020-21 school budget. The first budget discussion took place at the Feb. 5 Board of Education meeting, where district officials provided an overview of the process that will take place over the next few months.

“There was a time when we used to create a budget, sell it to the community and ask them to approve it,” Superintendent Dr. William Johnson said. “Now, our expenditure plan is capped at around 2 percent, so consequently, discussions about the budget end very quickly. At the end of the day, we’ll be going to voters with what we think is a plan that will take us from this year to next, essentially preserving all of the services that we provide for our children, with essentially the same staffing pattern that we have this year.”

Assistant Superintendent for Business Robert Bartels explained the process, schedule and goals for district. No numbers were given, though he explained that the district receives the majority of its funding, 81.2 percent, from the tax levy and 10.4 percent from state aid. The additional funding comes from the fund balance (2.7 percent), tuitions for the CORE/RISE programs from students in other districts (3.0 percent) and local revenue from programs including adult education and the summer program (3.0 percent).

Creating the budget for the following year begins as early as October, and Bartels it starts by looking at the needs of each school building. He said he receives budget requests from each building administrator, which are reviewed by him.

“I then put everything into a budget with my staff, we review it with the superintendent and assistant superintendents, and finalize the budget to present to the board and community,” Bartels said. “With each different work session, the budget will be fine tuned as more information becomes available.” 

Factors that could alter the budget over the course of discussions include kindergarten enrollment numbers being larger or smaller than anticipated, retirement announcements, or different services required or placements made. The final state aid commitment number, expected to be around $10 million, could change as well, based on the state budget approval on April 1.

“Each year we have to balance our budget,” Bartels said. “Whatever we’re planning on spending we have to have the revenue to support.”

Reiterating what Johnson said at the start of the discussion, Bartels said, rather than basing the budget on what the district needs, it’s based on how much the increase can be, which is determined by the tax cap.

“We now work backwards,” he said. “We start by determining what the tax levy is.”

The tax cap is a “fairly complicated formula” that is different for every school district. Bartels said it is calculated using last year’s levy, the consumer price index, growth factor, capital exclusions and Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs). It should be around 2 percent this year.

“That number can change dramatically,” Bartels said, “and can affect the amount of money the district is able to increase the tax base by.”

The budget is divided into three categories determined by the state. Instructional programs amount to 78.2 percent; the capital portion makes up 13 percent; and the administrative piece accounts for 8.8 percent.

Bartels addressed the financial condition of the district, noting that Moody’s issued a rating of Aa2 on Feb. 4, 2019.

“We’re actually in good shape,” Bartels said. “We manage our fund balance year to year, we use our reserves to maintain our budget lines without any large increases or decreases. We have a very strong bond rating.”

The budget discussion will continue on Feb. 25, where the focus will be on the programs, starting with general instruction, which includes classroom details and changes and specials; pupil personnel services and special education; athletics, after school programs; technology services; transportation; administration; and support services.

“We have lots of additional supporting programs that we add on that are funded by the budget,” Bartels said, “and great things outside of our instructional school day.”

All of the budget presentations are available on the district’s website, www.rvcschools.org. The Feb. 25 meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Commons Room at South Side High School. The community will vote on the budget on Tuesday, May 19.