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Preliminary Budgets Presented to PV School Board
Three scenerios, 8.3%, 5.4% and 4.08% increased spending plans offered
by Margaret Sternberg
The Putnam Valley Board of Education conducted a marathon session on Saturday, March 11, the result of combining a postponed Board meeting and a specially scheduled meeting to discuss the budget.
Assistant Superintendent for Finance Paul Lee first gave a concise presentation on the development of the budget, discussing revenues, which increased approximately $913,000 from last year and expenses which were projected to increase a little over $3 million, or an 8.3% rise. The 2006-7 figure was based upon certain immutable expenses, such as contract salary increases, benefits, debt service and contractual and other, more flexible items, such as staffing and supply requests.
At the Board's request Lee had also prepared an alternate budget with a 5.4% increase. 70 percent of that spending plan was attributable to salaries and fringe benefits and 8 percent to debt service.
A contingency budget, which would be imposed if the school budget is defeated, would be capped at 4.08% and would be $38,543,545. Based upon certain assumptions regarding State aid and the retention of the same assessments and equalization rates and assuming a $400,000 fully-valued property is involved, Putnam Valley would expect a 3.3% increase in tax rate; Carmel a 5.8% increase, and Cortlandt a 6.4% increase.
Various cuts that Lee made to arrive at the 5.4% budget included the elimination of all new staffing requests and special projects, no equipment, reductions in supply and textbook requests and in other areas. Lee also suggested the outsourcing of teacher training and professional development to experts and increasing the leveraging of partnerships with BOCES to save money and also offered the added benefit of being rebated with State Aid at 50%.
However, no suggestion generated more discussion and disagreement than the suggestion to eliminate the "Full Time Equivalent" Technology Coordinator who, between salary and benefits would earn $122,443. Lee suggested replacing the position with a BOCES-provided coordinator at a stipend of $3,105. According to Lee, elimination of the position would save the district $578,600 over the course of the next four years.
Superintendent Tutty expressed concern that, with the transition to the use of laptops a time he described as "critical" a full-time presence was necessary in order to ensure a relatively flawless transition and to address problems as they arose. Board President Tina Mackay echoed Tutty's concern as did Trustee Mary Maus. Trustee Frank Real asked several questions about the proposal but did not indicate that he had made up his mind on the matter.
Another concern arose from Vice President Guy Cohen over whether BOCES could guarantee that the same person would be assigned to the school when needed. Assistant Superintendent Barbara Fuchs, who had worked at BOCES, said the answer was essentially "no," with the added concern that because of the "No Child Left Behind Act," the teacher would need to be "certified" in the area, and she was not certain BOCES would provide someone who met that criterion.
Tutty pointed out, as more questions came from the Board about the ramifications of eliminating the position and what alternatives the school had, that that was the very reason he favored keeping the position for at least one year more. Tutty said that he and Middle Principal Ed Hallisey had already started to discuss ways of keeping the position and, therefore, the funds in the budget and of finding "creative ways of getting that money back using our present staff."
The discussion ended on the suggestion to survey the public on their feelings on the budget through Spotlight.
Lee followed his first presentation with a discussion of the Finance Department's budget. Under the subheading of "finance," expenses increased from $443,766 to $468,766 (9.1%). Much of the increase was accounted for by $25,000 allotted for the Internal Auditor position that has been mandated by the State since the Roslyn District's financial debacle. Under "special items," expenditures are forecast to increase $28,387 (8.5%). BOCES administrative costs will increase $15,670, and property and liability insurance will increase $10,425, accounting for most of the increase. Employee benefits will rise 8.8%. Debt service increases 19.1% to $3,002,623.
Director of Operations Nick Bellantoni then presented the "Operations" budget which showed a .08% decrease in the anticipated spending for buildings and grounds. Transportation increased 6.73%, mostly due to anticipated fuel increases. The total anticipated 2006-7 "Operations" budget increased 3.35%, rising to $4,378,697 from $4,236,891.
Bellantoni followed the budget presentation with a discussion of the various special projects and 5-year plan "priority 1" items -some of which involved liability issues to the district that the Board might need to address in the 2006-7 budget..
Athletic Director Pete Kuczma followed with the "Athletic" budget, which reflected a $10,872.48, from $674,511 to $685,383.48. This figure excluded approximately $16,000 allocated for new coaching positions.
Finally, Superintendent Tutty wound up the meeting with a presentation on District Office expenses. BOE anticipated expenses rose by $500 to $5,800. This increase was due to state-mandated training and attendant miscellaneous expenses. An additional $1,250 was allotted for voting expenses and election staff connected with the annual vote. Under "Central Administration," salaries rose $950 to $353,488; however, this figure excluded the superintendent's salary, the assistant superintendents' salaries, the salary of the Director of Operations and one other position. Contractual expenses rose $800 to $13,600, and supplies $200.
The next meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Education will be Thursday, March 16, at 7 pm.
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