By NANCY HILER
Bellmore Board of Education President Ted Tanenbaum reviewed the budget
plan at a May 2 public hearing at Reinhard Early Childhood Center. The board
adopted the budget on April 25.
³Our work was focused on maintaining all of our program,² said
Superintendent of Schools Sheldon Dumain. ³The community is telling us to keep the tax
levy as low as possible. This board agreed,² he said.
The board sought a budget that was ³fiscally responsible,² Trustee
Richard Narby said, one that started at ³zero ground level, doing nothing but state
mandates and contractual obligations² and then adding in existing programs
that were not required by the state. Bellmore's projected tax levy -- the amount
the district must raise in taxes to meet expenditures -- is ³among the lowest
in Nassau County,² Tanenbaum said, and ³the best we can do to maintain
program.²
The expenditure breakdown is as follows: 78.6 percent instructional
program, 10 percent administrative and 11.4 capital projects. In dollars, $1.3
million of the proposed $1.45 million budget increase would go to instruction.
Dumain noted that increase would allow the district to maintain its current
programs, noting that nothing new was added to the budget. Currently, Bellmore
offers:
€An average class size of 21.
€Full-day kindergarten.
€Instructional music and art programs.
€Foreign language study in grades kindergarten through six.
€Cutting-edge technology instruction.
The district's spending plan also calls for an increase of $126,243 in
administrative costs, largely owing to ³unfunded mandates,² said Trustee Janet
Goller.
As far as revenue to support the budget, 13.5 percent is anticipated to
come from state aid. Bellmore received an extra $240,000 in state aid when the
state budget passed on April 1, instead of an expected $82,000 increase,
Dumain said in a telephone interview. All state aid went to maintain the
instructional programs. ³We used everything,² the superintendent said.
The misconception is that taxes go down if a budget is defeated, Narby
noted at the meeting. ³Vote no on the budget, you¹d get money back; that¹s what
people thought last year,² he said. ³That¹s a fallacy.²
If the budget passes, homeowners will taxes see taxes go up by about $138
per year, or $11.50 a month, Dumain said. That's based on an average home
assessment of $520,000 in Bellmore.
The Bellmore budget would have to be reduced by an additional $689,000
under austerity. At that point, Tanenbaum said, program cuts would have to be
discussed.
The Bellmore budget vote will take place on Tuesday, May 16, at Reinhard
Early Childhood Center from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
set in an unshaded box:
> North Bellmore Elementary District
> Number of school buildings: 6
Enrollment, K-6: 2,467 students
2005-06 budget: $36.32 million
2006-07 Budget Proposal: $38.85 million
Dollar increase over prior year: $2,538,420
Percentage of increase: 6.99 percent
Dollar increase on average house: $75 per year, or $6.25 per month
Subhead: N. Bellmore budget update
>
The North Bellmore Board of Education had three goals for the district
budget, Assistant to the Superintendent Toni Ann Cincotta said at the May Board
of Education meeting. The charge was "to develop a budget that preserves
educational programs, provides for academic growth, and follows a fiscally
responsible plan,² all of which she said the district accomplished in its proposed $38
million spending plan.
> Cincotta explained that the plan calls for a 6.99 percent spending
increase over the current year, which would represent a 6.34 percent increase in the
tax levy. Added dollars would go to a new microscope/science program,
enhancements to the current balanced literacy program, to a pilot sixth-grade
foreign-language program, as well as staff development and expanded social worker
services. Funding is reduced for staff conferences, district newsletter,
custodial services through attrition, and computer hardware and software. Two bus runs
will be eliminated and classroom improvements deferred.
A state-mandated 4 percent contingency budget, should the district's
budget proposal be defeated, would mean about $1.5 million in programming,
Cincotta explained.
While taxes go up either way, ³the anticipated difference between the
proposed budget and an austerity plan would be about $75 for the year, or $6.25 a
month, for the average taxpayer, based on the latest county home assessment
and updated state austerity requirement information,² the assistant
superintendent said in a telephone interview.
There will also be a separate proposition on the ballot asking voters'
permission to spend $450,000 for a new roof at Jacob Gunther School. The North
Bellmore vote will be held at the Newbridge Road School, from 1 to 10 p.m.
>
