Thursday, October 1, 2026
Just weeks after school officials floated the 2011-12 school budget, the district’s Budget Advisory Committee presented its recommendations to the Board of Education at its March 22 meeting. Most of the committee’s concerns focused on potential increases in employee benefits.
The district is proposing a $118.6 million budget for 2011-12, $2.2 million more than the current spending plan. Although Long Beach stands to lose roughly $4.2 million in state education aid, Superintendent Dr. Robert Greenberg and Chief Operating Officer Michael DeVito said they are planning to use $4.4 million in reserve funds to offset the impact of Governor Cuomo’s proposed cuts.
In addition, officials said that the tax levy — the amount to be raised through property taxes — would remain unchanged, at
$88.9 million.
The advisory committee, said DeVito, who chairs the group, acts on behalf of residents, and is made up of resident volunteers who meet several times a month to develop a list of recommendations for the school board and the administration before the budget is approved.
Lido Beach resident Lilly Newman, the committee’s chairwoman, who presented its report to the board, lauded school officials for maintaining programs for students and not raising the tax levy. “We are happy about that, but we are not satisfied,” Newman said. “We must do better.”
She said that the committee — which first saw the budget on March 7 — focused on major budget categories, specifically employee benefits, which account for 25 percent of district spending. The total cost of those benefits is expected to increase 17.9 percent, from $25.4 million this year to $30 million in 2011-12.
Newman mentioned several anticipated increases, including unemployment insurance, state retirement benefits and teachers’ retirement benefits. Of special concern to the committee, she said, was an expected increase in health insurance benefits from $14 million this year to $15.4 million,
which has become a trend over the past
several years.
“If the trend in health insurance is allowed to continue,” Newman said, “it’s inevitable that there is going to be competition between programs for children and paying for health insurance …”
After the meeting, DeVito explained the increases. “We needed more money based on some of the layoffs we’re going to have next year,” he said of the unemployment insurance increase, noting that officials are looking to eliminate 13 full-time positions.
The increase in the cost of health insurance, DeVito said, is due to increases in insurance companies’ premiums. “[The committee] wants the employee to pay for a greater portion of the insurance coverage,” she said. “This would reduce the expense of the district. The employee would take a greater share of the overall cost.”
DeVito also clarified why there are increases in both state retirement benefits and teachers’ benefits. He explained that there is a contribution cost that employers are required to pay to participate in the state employee retirement system and the teachers’ retirement system, which are both
pension systems. Those costs, he said, have gone up.
The district, he said, has no control over the cost of premiums for health insurance or the contributions to the pension systems.
After Newman, on behalf of the committee, asked the board to search for alternative ways to lower the costs of health insurance, Francis McQuade, an attorney in Long Beach and a committee member, presented a list of proposals for the board’s consideration (see sidebar).
School officials noted that they would keep the proposals in mind as they move forward with finalizing the budget.
Trustee Roy Lester thanked the committee for what he called a “phenomenal piece of work,” and expressed his own concern about health-related costs. “The health costs are unsustainable,” Lester said. “And part of the problem is the insurance companies themselves.”
He said he agreed with many of the “excellent” proposals, which he said could save the district money, but pointed out that the board had tried in the past to act on committee recommendations, but state law and mandates have hindered its efforts. “We’ve tried to get changes up in Albany, and it just doesn’t happen,” Lester said. “A lot of these suggestions are good, but without legislative help, they don’t go anywhere.”
He said, with regard to health costs, that the only way to address the issue is if people lobby for change in Albany. “Things have to be done — they have to be changed,” Lester said. “Otherwise, Long Island is going to end up being a ghost town.”
With the budget vote set for May 17, school officials emphasized that the spending plan is still a proposal until the board approves a final version.
Comments about this story? CEngelhardt@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
