Superintendent Dr. Thomas Caramore noted that Proposition II, if approved by voters, would cost taxpayers nothing, since the district already has the money. During a budget hearing last week, Caramore outlined an array of projects that the district would undertake with the funds at all five Central schools -- Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham high schools, and Grand and Merrick Avenue middle schools. The projects range from the installation of new lockers to the replacement of sidewalks and curbs.
'More and more people feel if they vote the budget down, then taxes won't go up, but that really isn't the case.'
Janet Goller
Central Board of Education president
Central budget tops $100M
Drophead: Early spending plan projects $6.5M spending increase
By Scott Brinton
The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District budget is set to rise $6.5 million, or 8.6 percent, to roughly $102 million in 2005-06. And the district's tax levy -- the amount it needs to raise in taxes to meet expenditures -- is projected to increase 11 percent, Superintendent Dr. Thomas Caramore said during a budget hearing last week.
Caramore, however, did not offer a projected tax rate, which would indicate how the spending increase would translate on people's property-tax bills. It's the third straight year that the district hasn't offered a tentative tax rate during the annual public hearings that lead up to the district's budget vote in May.
Caramore said that a recent change in Nassau County's property-assessment system makes it impossible for him to accurately predict what the district's tax rate might be in 2005-06.
In November, there was anger in school districts across Long Island when people learned their current-year tax rates. In the Merricks and Bellmores, many saw their 2004-05 school-tax bills rise by $1,000 or more. Some said the increase was too much to bear, while others noted that the quality of the local schools adds value to their properties.
Central officials emphasized that the currently proposed budget is very preliminary. "It's not even close to being finalized," said Cynthia Regal, Central's assistant superintendent for business.
Caramore and other officials said repeatedly that the district's 2004-05 tax rate -- $88 per $100 of assessed value -- is one of the lowest in Nassau County. For a home assessed at $450,000, the rate translates into a tax bill of roughly $3,960. The figure includes only the high-school district portion of the bill. It does not factor in residents' local elementary district bills.
Janet Goller, president of the Central District Board of Education, emphasized that school officials are careful with the school budget, including only the most needed expenditures in it. "More and more people feel if they vote the budget down, then taxes won't go up, but that really isn't the case. We really are committed to fiscal responsibility," Goller said.
School officials said that, during upcoming budget hearings, they would outline precisely which student services would be cut if the budget were defeated in May. Already, Caramore has said he is tying summer school to passage of the budget, which the district has never done before.
School officials said that many of the expenses in the district's $6.5 million spending increase are out of its control, including teachers' retirement payments, special education, health insurance, transportation and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, among others. Officials noted that these are mandatory expenditures.
On top of all this, the Central District is facing a sizable increase in student enrollment. The student population is expected to rise by 191, from 5,881 to 6,072, said Dr. Irene Halpin, the assistant superintendent for personnel. With more students come more necessary expenses, school officials said.
"We have very little flexibility in what we can reduce in this budget, without going into [student] programs," Caramore said.
The superintendent said the district has only three revenue sources -- property taxes, state aid for education and rental property. The Jerusalem Avenue School, which the district rents to BOCES, provides only a small amount of income for the district, Caramore said.
Meanwhile, he noted that state aid would go up 4 percent in next year's budget, to $14.9 million -- a $580,000 increase. The announcement may have staved off fears that the recent Campaign for Fiscal Equity judgment won in New York City -- which will provide billions in state aid for city schools -- would lead to an aid reduction for Bellmore-Merrick. But Caramore said the Central District's aid level is still nowhere near what it was in 2002-03, when the district took a big hit in aid. The superintendent said that Central's aid package remains a half-million dollars below what it was that year.
Against this backdrop, Central officials are seeking to add a ninth period to the middle-school day, at an annual cost of $1.25 million, which would increase the budget by 1 percent. School officials said that most high-caliber districts now offer a ninth period for middle- and high-school students. The ninth period would enable the district to offer foreign language to seventh-graders and elective classes to eighth-graders. The district would also be able to offer additional remedial services for students struggling to pass mandated exams.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
