By Nick Buglione
The East Meadow Board of Education was expected to vote to adopt the approximately $140 million spending plan at an April 14 meeting, after press time.
With the state Legislature passing its first on-time budget in over two decades, the East Meadow School District has a much clearer idea of how much money it will be receiving in state funding.
It is set to receive about $32 million in aid, $1.5 million more than last year, under the Legislature¹s plan, which still requires Gov. George Pataki¹s approval.
³The school districts in this state will receive a 5.5 percent increase in aid that will enable them to provide a world-class education, while providing localities with the resources they need to keep property taxes under control for homeowners and small business,² said state Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City).
While East Meadow School District Deputy Superintendent Leon Campo welcomes the increase, he said it won¹t come close to covering the rising costs associated with health insurance, retirement plans, fuel and other expenses. ³It¹s better than less or zero, but it¹s only a portion of what it will take to maintain instructional program,² Campo said. ³We¹re not increasing staff, but this budget does not call for any decreases in staff or curtailment of program.²
The partnership between school districts and the state has eroded in recent years, school administrators argue, as shortfalls in aid have forced taxpayers to take up more of the burden. Long Island residents expressed their dissatisfaction with this at the polls last year, voting down about half of the school budgets on the first vote. East Meadow¹s budget passed.
Hannon counters that since 1995, the state has increased school aid by over 65 percent, though school districts say those increases haven¹t kept pace with inflation. ³At least we know what will happen on the state aid front,² Campo said.
Teacher contract negotiations, however, have posed a new problem for school officials in shaping the 2005-06 budget.
Some 700 East Meadow School District teachers have been without a contract since their five-year deal expired on Aug. 31, 2004. School officials and the East Meadow Teachers Association began meeting with a state-appointed mediator in September, after the two sides couldn¹t come to terms on their own.
Teachers¹ salaries and benefits account for the lion¹s share of the budget, and when the new contract is finally ironed out, teachers¹ will be getting a raise, Campo said. How much it will be and how it will impact taxpayers, however, remains unclear.
With the school budget vote just weeks away, administrators have had to estimate what they¹ll be paying teachers in the next school year. That means residents will likely have to vote on a spending plan and tax levy that could change in the ensuing weeks based on the outcome of the contract talks.
If the new contract calls for a higher raise than the district anticipated, than residents can expect to pay more in taxes.
The school district also doesn¹t know what the shift in the base proportion will be, making it difficult to determine how any tax increase under the proposed 2005-06 budget will impact homeowners¹ tax bills, Campo said.
The base proportion determines how the tax burden is distributed among the four classes of property in a community‹homes, apartments, businesses, and utilities. Since the value of residential properties has outpaced commercial, homeowners have had to absorb more of the tax burden in the past few years.
So, the East Meadow School District¹s proposed 6 percent tax hike could translate into an even larger increase on homeowners¹ tax bills. ³That is totally outside the control of the school district,² Campo said.
Up until two years ago school districts voluntarily provided tentative tax rates with their proposed budgets. The tax rate is the cost per $100 of a home¹s assessed value that enables residents to estimate how much they¹ll owe in school taxes if they vote in favor of a budget.
School districts claim that a number of factors have now made it impossible to offer tentative tax rates, including annual shifts in the base proportion. ³I believe those who are really in control of all the pieces should [provide the tax rate],² Campo said. ³Why doesn¹t the county assessor provide the tax rate for the 56 school districts in Nassau County by class?²
Assemblyman David McDonough, a Republican, of North Merrick, recently introduced legislation that would amend the current education law so school districts across the state would have to provide residents with a tentative tax rate when disclosing their spending plans.
The East Meadow School District is holding its annual budget presentation Wednesday, May 3 at the Salisbury Center, 718 The Plain Road, at 8 p.m. The budget vote is set for Tuesday, May 17.
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
