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Projected Tax Rate Increase of 2.54% Announced by Putnam Valley Board of Ed
District decreases amount returned to taxpayers to lower school taxes
by Margaret Sternberg
At its April 17, 2008 meeting, the Putnam Valley Board of Education announced projected school tax rate increases of 2.54 percent for Putnam Valley, 2.26 percent for Carmel and 4.81 percent for Cortlandt for the 2008-9 school year. These numbers, Assistant Superintendent of Finance Paul Lee was careful to point out, are pending release of the final tax roll and equalization rate information, which generally come out in August.
Asked about the relatively high tax rate for Cortlandt, Lee noted that the Cortlandt tax rate is a function of the town being located in Westchester as well as their equalization rate steadily falling, resulting in the town picking up more of the school tax burden.
The budget-to-budget increase from 2007-8 to 2008-9 is 4.27 percent, less than the March 2008 Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 4.3 percent. The total projected budget represents a $1,750,006 increase in expenditures from $40,945,232 to $42,695,238 for the same years. The School Board adopted the proposed budget that evening.
Some of the cutbacks the district made for the upcoming school year included not replacing a 1.0 full-time employee (FTE) at the elementary school who retired and the reduction of a 1.0 FTE school psychologist position. The position of equipment manager in the Athletics Department was abolished, and a custodial position was replaced with a cleaner position, which pays less. In addition, the "supplies" budget was frozen for the third year, effectively a 10 percent cut when compared to the CPI. These actions saved the district approximately $280,000.
A 0.1 FTE grade 8 Social Studies position was added, due to class size being too large, and a 0.1 FTE High School Science position was added because of state mandate pertaining to remedial science requirements.
Salaries and benefits comprise approximately 83 percent ($1.45 million) of the budget increase, with the remaining 17 percent ($300,000) made up of a 2 percent increase in outside tuition, BOCES services increasing 5 percent, utilities 3 percent, contract transportation 4 percent and "other" 3 percent.
The district had planned to "give back" to the taxpayers $500,000 from the General Fund in an effort to lower the tax rate, but that amount has been lowered to $250,000 because of approximately $800,000 in unanticipated state aid, all of which, the district said, goes toward lowering the tax rate.
School Board President Tina Mackay said the amount was revised because of continued "upward pressures" on future budgets, citing heating and fuel oil costs, as well as unfunded mandates and contractually-mandated increases. She also noted that the state aid was unanticipated, saying that should state aid fall short or be withdrawn in the future, the district would still have funds available to lower the tax rate for the community.
Should this district's budget be defeated twice, the district would be forced to adopt a contingency budget, which would require that an additional $350,000 be cut from the budget. Among the restrictions imposed under a contingency budget is that the district would have to charge for outside use of schools facilities.
Assistant Superintendent Lee said that for a house assessed at $400,000 in Putnam Valley, taxes are expected to rise about $180 under the proposed budget. Under a contingency budget, taxes for the same house would instead rise $100.
In addition to the budget vote, taxpayers will also be voting on a proposition that will enable the district to move $2,250,000 from the district's General Fund into its Capital Fund. The monies would be used for repairs, additions and other improvements to all of the school buildings and would involve no additional taxes to residents. The funds were originally appropriated to pay residents who won if they challenged their taxes, but few challenges have arisen.
The $2.25 million would be allocated specifically for use on district repairs in the NYS-mandated "Five Year Repair Plan." Those projects include restoration of the façade and exterior of the Elementary School and replacement of ; reconstruction and resurfacing of the Middle School roof; replacement of the artificial turf field and repairs to the track at the High School; replacement of the hut temporarily housing the buses; possible future expansion of the Elementary School, and possible consolidation of the central administration offices.
The budget vote will be held Tuesday, May 20 from 6am to 9pm. There is also one seat open on the school board - the seat held by Marie Zarcone, who is running for reelection. Valerie Fitzgerald, a Co-President of the PTA, is also running for the seat.
The next meeting of the Board of Education will be Tuesday, April 29, at 7pm.
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