By Hector Flores
With next year¹s proposed budget totaling $149 million ‹ an increase of $8 million over this year ‹ district officials say they will be able to:
€ Maintain current instructional and co-curricular programs from kindergarten through 12th grade;
€ Maintain class size within district guidelines (which averages between 22 and 27 students per classroom for elementary schools);
€ Avoid the hiring of new staff.
³This tax levy of 4.9 percent is one of the lowest in the county,² said Leon Campo, deputy superintendent of schools. ³This is a favorable increase, and takes into account the burden of our taxpayers.²
Campo added that the budget curbs expenses by calling for no new spending on teachers. ³We are holding the line, and have implemented key ways of cutting costs,² he said. ³This is not a time for hiring.²
Campo explained that the district spends the majority of its money on its staff, mostly on items beyond the district¹s control, such as health care, retirement pensions and fuel and energy costs. According to Campo, these expenses have increased steadily in the past couple of years and will continue to do so. For 2006-07, health care costs are expected to increase by more than $1 million, pensions by approximately $1.8 million and utilities by $500,000.
Other increases include debt service, which is nearing $3 million. ³Debt service is what the district owes on its interest and principal on its bonds, which was used to reconstruct and improve district facilities that go back to the mid-1950s,² Campo said. ³They are over 50 years old, and we need to preserve them for future generations.²
Campo said that without debt service, East Meadow would have had the lowest tax levy increase in Nassau County.
Cost-cutting efforts
In an effort to mitigate some of the mandated expenses, such as health care, the district has begun to ask employees to contribute more to their insurance premiums. ³So far, five of our employee groups have signed new contracts and have agreed to absorb more of the costs,² Campo said. ³Employees are contributing more to their health care while they¹re actively employed, prior to their retirement.²
Complicating matters is the fact that the district has yet to iron out a new contract with the teachers¹ union, whose members have worked without a new contract for almost two years.
Although Campo has seen a slight increase in state aid in the last two years ‹ $32 million for 2005-06 and $35 million for 2006-07 ‹ it is still not enough to offset mandated expenses. ³Through the years, from 1986 to today, the percentage of state aid in the budget has decreased from 30 percent to 19.6 percent,² Campo said. ³Though politicians are giving us more aggregate dollars, it¹s buying less.²
How assessment affects
school taxes
For some homeowners, property reassessments have resulted in tax increases that are larger than the tax levy increase. According to Schools Superintendent Robert Dillon, these adjustments in property value have shifted a significant portion of the school tax burden from commercial property owners to homeowners.
³Residents should be aware that increases in their tax bill beyond the school and library tax levy are the result of these reassessments,² Dillon said.
Randy Yunker of the Nassau County Assessor¹s Office said that the market value of a home in East Meadow has increased by an average of 18.6 percent since last year. The average market value of a home in East Meadow is now estimated at $418,800. The average school tax bill will be $5,806.
³This does not include STAR [School Tax Relief] savings and the library taxes,² said Yunker.
The community reacts
Bill Alderman, who attended the school district¹s budget presentation last week, was impressed by how low the district was able to keep the tax levy increase. ³The school did very well in keeping the levy at its minimum,² he said. ³Compared to last year, the increase is not for anything [new]. People are more upset with the tax assessment of their homes.²
Alderman said that homeowners will have to absorb more of the tax burden because of the shift in the base proportion, which determines how the tax burden in a community is distributed among the four classes of property ‹ homes; apartments, condos and co-ops; businesses and utilities. ³It¹s like the saying goes: ŒYou¹re complaining to your butcher that your barber gave you a bad haircut,¹² he said.
Susan Weiss, who attended that budget presentation, hopes that homeowners will not reject the budget because of the reassessments. ³People need to know that if they don¹t vote for the budget, the district will go on a contingency plan, which is only .9 percent lower than the proposed budget,² she said. ³The budget will still be going up. We should vote for the budget because that is what¹s best for our children and our property value.²
The contingency budget
If the school district fails to pass the budget, it is left with three options: to put the same budget up for a second vote, to put a lower budget up for voting, or adopt a contingency budget. Under contingency, according to state law, the increase in district expenditures would be capped at 4 percent, plus an allowance for increased enrollment and debt service.
If the district is forced to adopt a contingency budget, the resulting tax levy increase would still be considerable, and nearly $2 million would need to be cut from the budget proposal. Those cuts would include teaching staff; academic programs and co-curricular activities such as art, music and clubs; non-mandated student support services; and athletic programs.
The school budget vote is Tuesday, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., in the five elementary schools.
