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Putnam Valley's Third Quarter Overview Shows School District Financially Strong
Rising oil prices take financial toll on District
by Margaret Sternberg
Budgets, in one form or another, dominated the May 8, 2008 meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Education.
Less than two months away from the end of the school year, the Board heard a third quarter overview of the 2007-8 budget from Assistant Superintendent for Finance Paul Lee.
Revenues for the third quarter project $143,010 more than the $40,945,232 that had been expected at year end. Lee said that the positive variance was a result of additional tuitions and interest earned by the district.
While most of the expenditure areas showed projected positive variances at year's end, transportation showed a significant projected over-expenditure of $52,857 based upon $1,646,665 in expenses to date and an estimated $2,374,503 estimated fiscal year total versus $2,320,644 that had been budgeted.
Lee attributed the entire $52,857 over-expenditure to the cost of bus fuel. Bus fuel for 2007-8, he said, had been budgeted at $162,863 and has been budgeted at $262,500 for 2008-9. Heating fuel was budgeted at 103,275 for 2007-8 and at $150,000 for 2008-9. The smaller numbers for heating fuel reflect the Middle and High Schools being geothermally heated, so that heating fuel is only needed for the Elementary School.
More than counterbalancing the deficit in transportation, the area of instruction was projected to show a $978,939 surplus at year's end, most of which was due to expected under-expenditures of $400,000 in the area of regular school and $500,000 in the area of special education.
The area of general support is expected to show a positive variance of $47,460 at fiscal year's end. Due to conservative budgeting, the benefits area was expected to show a $317,546 positive variance at year's end, and the General Fund was expected to show a $1,254,971 positive variance.
The Fund Balance is expected to be $5,248,589 at year's end - a $1,761,316 reduction from last year. The reduction would be due to the possible appropriation of $2.25 million from the General Fund, if approved by the voters, for use by the school district in repairs, construction and other improvements.
The unappropriated fund balance is projected to be $1,707,810, representing 4 percent of the 2008-9 budget, and the maximum percentage allowed by the state.
The other budget item, the 2008-9 proposed budget, was again reviewed that evening, with brief, final summaries given of more detailed explanations that have been presented in recent weeks.
The district continues to project 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. The numbers are pending release of the final tax roll and equalization rate information, which are released in mid-August.
The 2008-9 $42,695,238 budget is a $1,750,006 increase over the 2007-8 budget, a 4.27 percent increase that falls slightly below the March 2008 Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of 4.3 percent.
Increases in instructional services account for 57 percent of the increase, rising $928,323 from $23,714,924 to $24,643,247. Benefits account for another 20 percent of the increase, going from $7,898,468 to $8,322,593, an additional $424,125.
Transportation accounts for an additional $216,718, going from $2,320,644 to $2,537,362. Almost $180,000 has been allotted for district-operated transportation, and, of that, an additional $99,637 over the 2007-8 amount has been allocated for fuel. The other component, contract transportation, has its costs determined by contract and is based upon the CPI.
Other areas showing increases are administrative support services, which rise $76,282 from $1,695,503 to $1,771,785, and facilities and maintenance, which rises $117,164 from $2,321,660 to $2,438,824.
The district also shows a $12,606 reduction in debt service in 2008-9.
That evening, the Board also accepted, with regret, two resignations, one of which was that of Middle School Assistant Principal Dr. David Fine, who has accepted the position of Principal of the Peekskill Middle School.
On an uplifting note, the Putnam Valley Federation of Teachers Trust Fund announced that, in conjunction with Raymond Opticians, any taxpayer within the Putnam Valley School District would be able to obtain glasses or contacts from the Jefferson Valley retailer for the same amount that the trust fund pays, $160. The amount includes an eye exam, frames with a retail value up to $165, excluding designer frames, and some other perks, although some restrictions apply. Flyers will be posted in the school buildings and an advisory e-mail will be sent out through the PTA.
Ending the evening, Board Vice President Guy Cohen clarified that the status of French classes in the district, which had erroneously been reported to have been voted by the Board to be disbanded, continue to be available and that the Board had had discussions last year concerning appropriate class size and the possibility of increasing class sizes, getting more students interested in French, and balancing class size.
Cohen also addressed an article that had discussed school consolidation, clarifying other information, he said, that also was mistaken. He said the district had looked into consolidation, but not with the district named in the paper. Cohen did not name the district with which they had held discussions, saying that there was no reason now, after a number of years have passed, to bring up the name of the district or how it ended.
The budget vote and board election will be May 20 from 6am to 9pm. The next meeting of the Putnam Valley Board of Ed will be Thursday, May 29, at 7pm.
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