By Anthony Rifilato and Jonann Brady
At its May 20 meeting, the board said it reduced the budget 4.9 percent after the New York State Legislature overrode Gov. George Pataki's veto in order to restore more than $1 billion in state school aid. The approved budget has been reduced to $81.7 million from $82 million.
"This has been a difficult if not unusual year for budgeting," said Superintendent Kathy Weiss, who noted that Baldwin stood to lose $1.8 million in school aid.
The additional state aid has been used to lower the tax levy, or the amount of money the district needs to raise from taxpayers, to $61,267,308. That is a 6.2 percent increase from last year's tax levy, but lower than the 10.5 percent projected tax levy before state aid came through.
"Our board told us that additional state aid and reductions would be used to lower the tax levy," said Deputy Superintendent of Administration Lee Chapman.
Chapman said another major factor in decreasing the budget was the state Legislature's enactment of a pension-reform law which capped the school district's contribution rate at 4 1/2 percent. As a result, the board has cut a little under $400,000 from expenditures for employee retirement contributions.
"It's not as big of an expense as we had planned," Chapman said.
At its annual budget hearing last week, the board heard from several Baldwin residents, who asked questions about subjects ranging from construction projects to the tax rate.
One resident asked what the dollar impact of the tax rate would be. (The tax rate is the amount in taxes a property owner pays for every $100 of his property's assessed value.)
"The county hasn't been able to tell us that yet," said Chapman, who added that the because of changes in the county's reassessment -- now based on about 1 percent of the full market value of a home -- they haven't been able to determine what the estimated tax rate is.
But last week, the Herald called the Nassau County Assessor's Office and was told that school districts had all the information they needed to figure out tax rates, and an accountant quickly calculated the tax rate at $179.86, based on the district's tax levy.
School districts across Nassau County have been unwilling to disclose tax rates because they have jumped so significantly from last year, but that's based on the reassessed home values, which have been calculated differently as well. For example, the average assessed value of a home in Baldwin is $2,745. Last year, the average assessed value was $5,508.
When asked about this after the meeting, Chapman said the district would call the assessor's office right away to get the tax rate numbers.
Baldwin resident Dona Schwab also asked about the addition of a new assistant superintendent for business and administrative services, which the board has figured into the budget as Chapman gears up for retirement after the 2003-04 school year.
School Board President James Scannell said that after Chapman leaves, the board will also hire an assistant superintendent of personnel.
Schwab also briefly inquired about the rising cost of benefits, and asked if the teacher's union was absorbing some of the cost. "Absolutely," said Weiss.
Another resident pointed out a $1 million reduction in the capital portion of the budget, and asked if last year's projects had been completed.
Scannell said that because of changes to state building aid -- now disbursed over a 15-year period instead of a 54 percent lump sum during the following school year -- the district was looking into alternative funding for future projects, mainly securing municipal bonds. He also noted that projects left to be completed includes two boiler replacements and new bleachers at the high school.
Afterward, residents said they were content with the budget. "I think Baldwin has always been fair with its budget," said Schwab. "I hope people realize that when people vote down a budget, it costs money to re-vote."
Figuring your taxes, part 2
In an article on April 3, the Herald gave a scenario for calculating school taxes based on incorrect tax rate information. To figure the school portion of your property taxes, divide the assessed value of your home by 100 and multiply by the tax rate. According to the Nassau County Assessor's Office, the average assessed value of a home in Baldwin is $2,856 and the tax rate is $179.86, so in that scenario, the average Baldwin homeowner would pay $5,136.80 in school taxes.
