District's day of reckoning awaits
Board members fear 2009-10 budget will be voted down by residents
0 comments below
At the center of Shoreham-Wading River's financial concerns has always been the power plant. The plant provided about 80- percent of the district's tax revenue before closing in 1988.
On that Tuesday, residents will cast their votes in support of or against the Shoreham-Wading River School District's $56.13 million 2009-10 budget and its health and safety proposition to bring the middle school up to fire, safety and health codes.
But given the district's long history of budget and proposition defeats and years of animosity between the board and residents, the prospect of anything passing is dim, at best.
"I expect it will go down," said Board of Education vice president Scott Ericson. "A lot of people believe if they vote down the budget, they won't get a tax increase." That's not true, he said.
Mr. Ericson is referring to the upcoming 27 percent tax-levy hike, which is happening after school tax rates have been frozen for two years.
The budget residents will actually vote on is the district's expenditure budget of $56.13 million, not its revenue budget, where a $3.9 million shortfall of expected revenue is causing the tax-levy increase.
The decision to borrow the $11.4 million was made after a lot of controversy in the community, said Shoreham resident Christine Zukowski, who has helped lead community efforts in recent years to increase state aid for the district. At the time, there were two different schools of thought on how the $35.8 million in prior years' state aid should be used: some thought it should be used for capital projects, building maintenance and improvements; others thought it should be used to freeze the tax rate.
Sen. Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) thought it would be good to freeze the tax rate, said Mr. Ericson, and promised he would work to fix aid formulas so there would be no tax spike at the end of the freeze.
"We didn't believe that would be true because of our past experience with the state," Mr. Ericson said. Mr. LaValle declined to comment for this story, pending an upcoming meeting with the board and district administration that has already been postponed twice.
So the board voted to freeze the tax rate "because of overwhelming community pressure," Mr. Ericson said.
"We gave the people what they asked for," he said. "But we basically said at that board meeting, 'We're telling you today that you are going to regret this. Our taxes will go up; there will be a spike.'"
Now that day has come.
The board opted to allow the tax-levy increase April 22 and not to borrow additional money to cushion the blow, because of the unpredictable economic situation board members fear could get much worse. The board will be renewing the loan for $3.9 million, which will come due in June 2010.
Meanwhile, as the borrowed money has been used to hold down the tax rate, contractual expenses have continued to rise.
"By artificially suppressing the tax rate increase, it eventually has to come back and be repaid," said board president Michael Fucito. "If you tried to reduce the [expenditure] budget to a zero percent increase, you'd be cutting into mandated programs, and the state wouldn't allow that."
Meanwhile, the district's buildings have fallen behind certain building standards and are in need of updates. After 59 percent of residents shot down a $39.95 million capital improvements bond last October, the district's only hope is the $3 million health and safety proposition that is up for vote.
The plan comes at no cost to taxpayers, using $371,000 in Excel funds and $2.7 million from a reserve fund originally slated to pay for retired employees' unused sick days.
The board would like to move the money to its capital reserve fund to pay for projects at Albert G. Prodell Middle School, including enlarging corridors to a width of eight feet and reconstructing 15 rooms to have natural lighting, proper exits and slightly more square footage per student.
The New York State Board of Education has said it will not let the district go forward with any projects until the health and safety problems at the middle school are fixed.
But there is little optimism among board members that residents will vote to approve the proposal.
"I'm not particularly confident that people understand it's a shift from a reserve to the capital reserve," Mr. Ericson said. "I think they'll think it's an expenditure and vote it down."
asnyder@northshoresun.com
The bottom line
IF YOU VOTE YES:
* The budget will be approved, allowing the continuation of existing district programs, extracurricular activities, and staff positions.
* If the health and safety proposition is approved, the district will be able to make much-needed health and safety improvements at the middle school, as required by the State Department of Education.
If you vote no:
* The 27 percent tax levy increase will still happen, as the vote is to approve the expenditure side of the budget. A $3.9 decline in anticipated revenue has caused the district's revenue budget to take a hit, hence the increase.
* The Board of Education will submit a second budget for voter approval.
* If the health and safety proposition is turned down by voters, the State Department of Education will not allow any future projects in schools until health and safety issues in school buildings are brought up to code.
The North Shore Sun is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The North Shore Sun does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The North Shore Sun. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Service and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.
0 comments found
