Originally Posted by
Lee Chowaniec
The District is not proposing an increase to the tax cap limit. It is stating that considering the Tax Levy Limit Calculation formula (town growth factor, IDA PILOTS, and other exclusionary line items in the budget) that its allowable tax levy cap is 3.72%. I also agree that increase percentage is too high and especially if the District gets an appropriate increase in state aid and if Greg is right in stating that the District has $20 million in rainy day funds; and now that GEP has ended.
The District should be questioned on what is in the rainy day fund as Greg has remained moot on how he knows this – and an answer should be provided. The Town includes its Reserved and Un-appropriated Fund Balances in its budget report.
At the first budget work session increased spending in Department requests and increases in non-instructional staff totaled $357,476. At the second work session increased spending in contractual instructional services, BOCES, health, athletics, library, etc increased by $2.45 million over last year. Of that increase $1.6 million (64%) is for salary increases. So as of now the District is looking at approximately $3 million in increased spending.
According to the Lancaster Bee’s report on the second budget work session:
Residents in the Lancaster Central School District may see as much as a 3.2* percent rise in their school taxes this year, according to Jamie Phillips, assistant superintendent for business and support services, who laid out preliminary budget figures for Board of Education members at a work session Monday.
She said that number, which would be the maximum the district could raise taxes without exceeding the state-mandated property tax cap, would be an approximately $1.85 million increase over last year’s levy of $49.4 million.
According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget, Phillips said Lancaster will receive about $35.4 million in state aid for 2017-18, a figure that she didn’t expect the district to receive, given last year’s numbers.
She indicated that in 2016-17, the governor estimated the district’s aid at $35.1 million, but LCS ultimately received only $34.3 million, or about $260,000 less than the $34.5 million the district budgeted for. She said the state Legislature’s estimate for 2016-17 was even higher at $35.9 million.
“It’s just reinforcement that our calculations and our inclinations on what we’re going to receive in aid are a little bit more accurate,” she said, arguing that inaccuracy in state calculations stems from actions such as estimating transportation costs without including expenses that the state doesn’t pay for.
So if the projected spending increase over last year is $3 million and with an allowable tax cap limit increase of 3.72 that would bring in $1.85 million, with no real information on what the District is going to receive in State Aid, and knowing that in the budget years of 2011- 15 the District was using $9-10 million dollars of rainy day funds to balance budgets where they were shorted in State Aid by $25 million (even using near $7 million last year with GEP gone), and considering this is budget review time where no budget proposal has been put forth for the BOE to vote approval on and pass on to the public for their approval, this is all speculation and much ado about nothing.
I heartedly agree the District should be questioned on ‘rainy day’ reserves before anyone casts dispersion on anyone or makes unfounded allegations.
* 3.72 percent