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Preliminary PV Superintendent's Budget Presented
District contributes $500,000 from Fund Balance to lower proposed school tax rate
by Margaret Sternberg
Much of the April 3, 2008 meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Education focused on the 2008-9 budget, from the Budget Advisory Committee presentation, to a very preliminary presentation of the superintendent's budget and ending with a resolution that approved a referendum on moving monies that had not been used, having been slated for tax challenges, into the district's Capital Fund for the purpose of making general improvements to the schools.
Calling them "800 pound gorillas," Assistant Superintendent for Finance Paul Lee presented a very preliminary superintendent's budget detailing the three components that most contribute to budget increases: unfunded mandates, benefits and salaries.
Unfunded mandates account for $2.6 million of the district's budget, with $2 million accounted for by tuitions, academic intervention services and therapists for Special Education and Special Services. Lee noted that since the implementation of the federally mandated No Child Left Behind program, federal financial support of the program has declined 16 percent.
Benefits make up 23 percent of the budget increase, with legislated benefits rising $191,000 from $4.2 million. Benefits mandated by labor contracts rise $283,000 from $3.7 million. Benefits in the area of health and hospital insurance alone will rise 8 percent in 2008, although the 2008-9 total district contribution of $103,000 is somewhat aided by employee contributions, ranging from 4-10 percent.
Salaries make up 60 percent of the budget increase, rising $1.21 million in 2008-9. In a comparison of Putnam Valley and 39 other districts in Putnam and Westchester Counties, except on Step 1, where Putnam Valley fell slightly below the median salary paid, Putnam Valley paid from $300 to $6,000 more than the median, although the district now hires most new teachers at the bottom steps.
Lee said that salaries and benefits equate to about 83 percent of the estimated 2008-9 budget and that all other budget increases have been minimized, with outside tuitions, BOCES, utilities, supplies and contract transportation accounting for, respectively, two, five, three, three and four percent increases.
Although a prospective 4.87 percent total budget-to-budget increase was announced, with the estimated 2008-9 budget $42.94 million, up from the 2007- 8 budget of $40.95 million, Superintendent Dr. Marc Space said that he expected that the budget-to-budget final number would be lower. Within the current numbers, mandated salary and benefit increases comprise $1.7 million and the remainder of the budget rises by $300,000. The total 2008-9 budget is somewhat offset by the district contributing $500,000 from its General Fund in order to lower the overall tax rate increase.
The prospective percentage tax increase paid by residents was not provided at this meeting due to uncertainty about the amount of state aid, which comprises approximately 20 percent of the district's revenue. That amount is expected to be finalized within the week.
Playing into considerations on the budget were the deliberations of the Budget Advisory Committee. Among the additions to the current programs the committee considered were clubs for enrichment at the elementary school, a marching band for the high school, a full-time band/chorus teacher at the elementary school, using an after-school chorus club to pay for it, and Academic Intervention Services either before or after school at the elementary school.
Among possible policies that might be open to "investigation" were the no-cut policy for sports, defending the 1:1 laptop program effectiveness with a cost/benefit analysis, raising drama ticket prices to help offset costs, and investigating six versus seven 2nd grade sections, resulting in class sizes of 21- 22 students instead of 17-18.
In the area of cost savings, the committee suggested looking into the cost effectiveness of activities and club enrollment, the possible change of the Athletic Coordinator position from full- to part-time, and the number of assistant coach positions, something the district started considering at the prior board meeting.
The budget vote will take place May 20. Aside from voting on the budget, the district will put forward a referendum asking for approval to move $2,250,000 from the district's General Fund into its Capital Fund. The monies would be used for maintenance, repairs, additions and improvements to the school buildings and would involve no additional taxes to residents. The funds were originally appropriated to pay residents who successfully challenged their taxes, but few of the anticipated challenges occurred, and the fund has grown over time. Transferring that amount to the Capital Fund still leaves about $1 million available to pay for successful challenges.
Putnam Valley resident and committee participant, Alexander Kaspar, commenting at the close of the committee's presentation, made an observation on where tax rates would be in seven years. When later asked by the PCN&R to substantiate the claim, Mr. Kaspar was unable to produce any documentation himself, explaining that a committee member had shown him extensive calculations that seemed credible.
That evening the district's Webmaster, Alex Gofman, gave a detailed overview of what the new school district's website will look like. Addressing a variety of complaints about the old format, the new website, which debuted April 7, started with the idea of focusing on the lack of updating in the old format as well as making the new format easy to navigate and visually appealing.
Some of the many enhancements that have been made include a scrolling ticker, access to the board meeting videos, a new features area, drop-down bars, a Minutes archive, scrollbars for announcements and an area for the school district's newsletters. Also included are web pages with drop-down bars for the various schools and certain departments, such as Arts, Sports, and Guidance. The PTA will maintain their own area of the website, allowing their information to be updated more quickly and easily than it has been in the past.
Board President Tina Mackay commented that she thought "it's great, easy to navigate," a comment echoed by Trustee Mary Maus. The next meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Education will be April 9, during which the completed budget is expected to be presented.
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