By JUDY RATTNER
The tax levy is projected to grow by just under $3.6 million, or 5.4 percent, to $70,211,539.
Robert Bartels, the district's assistant superintendent of business, said that the tax levy increase is larger, in terms of percentages, than the budget increase because of the district's limited revenue increases. "They went up," Bartels said, "but not enough to offset that difference."
He explained that the district's state aid has gone up 7.3 percent and local revenues have increased 1.2 percent. The district will also appropriate $2.8 million from the general fund to offset the tax levy. "It is just discouraging, because it's a lot more money in revenue," Bartels said, "but because the budget is much larger than the tax levy, even a big increase in those other revenues does not offset the increase in the budget."
Bartels told Monday night's audience that hikes in health insurance costs, debt service and payments to the retirement system accounted for much of the budget increase. There are also new costs, such as new state-mandated accounting procedures and a district-wide foreign language program for first-graders.
"At this point the final assessment numbers aren't in," Bartels said. "They won't be in until after April 2. But preliminary figures indicate the Class 1 residential assessed valuations are going up approximately 7 percent." Class 1 includes single-family homes. Assessed valuations in Class 2 - condominiums and co-ops - will increase by 14.6 percent, while those of Class 3 - utilities - will remain the same and Class 4 - commercial property - will go up by 11.4 percent, Bartels explained. "We're hoping that [the higher assessment valuations for Class 2 and Class 4] will provide us with a reduction in the adjusted base proportions for Class 1 residences, which would keep the average homeowner's tax increase below 5 percent this year."
Superintendent Dr. William Johnson, discussing the state aid situation, said that "things do not look great for us on Long Island." Johnson said that although it appears that Long Island schools are getting more state funding, the formula for school aid in Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposed budget, which Spitzer has said he plans to finalize by next Tuesday, actually reduces the share of state aid going to Rockville Centre, and all of Long Island, while more will go to New York City.
Johnson said there is a great deal of concern that in the long term, the district - and what he called "similarly situated" districts on Long Island - might receive "nothing, or less than nothing," from the state. That burden, he said, could eventually fall on taxpayers. Johnson estimated that for every dollar in income tax and sales tax Rockville Centre residents pay, only 10 cents comes back to the district. Long Islanders deserve their fair share of the taxes they pay, he said.
"There's a revolt brewing among people in school districts and legislators looking for support in stalling or changing the formulas," Johnson said.
Village residents have one more opportunity for public comment on the proposed budget, at the preliminary budget hearing on April 12 at South Side High School, before the spending plan is adopted by the Board of Education.
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