By Cindy J. Roth
The delayed school-budget vote will allow school districts to use the correct state aid amounts when preparing their budgets, thus giving residents a better idea of the budget amount to be raised by property taxes.
By enabling school districts to accurately account for the additional state aid they will receive, the Legislature has acted responsibly and prudently to provide taxpayers with necessary property-tax relief, said Sen. Dean Skelos (R-C, Rockville Centre).
Both houses of the Legislature approved a budget Friday. Pataki has 10 days to veto it, which he plans to do. The Legislature would then have to override the veto for the budget to pass.
The Legislature allocated $771,866 more in state aid to the Rockville Centre School District than the governor's original plan, making the total $6,134,117.
In addition to the budget vote postponement, school board trustee races have been changed as well. The petition filing date for candidates was extended to May 5.
In accordance with state law, which requires school districts to hold a budget hearing a minimum of seven days prior to a vote, school districts will be planning additional budget hearings. Rockville Centre will hold its on Tuesday, May 27 at 8:30 p.m. However, the budget may already have been finalized. School officials planned to make changes to the budget based on the new state aid during a public work session on May 6 after the paper's deadline.
While the Legislature is selling the delayed vote as a gift to school districts, Rockville Centre school officials are not pleased about the additional costs and paperwork the delay will cause. The district will have to readvertise the election and budget vote.
