Editorials
Lancaster school budget, yea or nay?
By Lee Chowaniec
May 13, 2008, 09:15

The Lancaster Central School District (LCSD) is submitting a budget proposal to the voters that increases the tax levy by 2.9 percent, or 46 cents per thousand of assessed property valuation.

At last night’s school board meeting, LCSD Superintendent Ed Myszka gave an overview as to how the budget was ultimately reduced from an initial proposed budget where budget spending would have increased by 13.6% had Lancaster remained on the state mandated Contract for Excellence program.

The budget was reworked four more times, the last two with direction from the school board to cut spending to bring the budget to a reasonable level of public acceptance.

Said one board member of the final budget proposal, “It fits in with our needs and I can more than live with it.”

Writer comments made at school district budget review

The 13 percent budget increase proposal was made before the school district was removed from the state’s “Contract for Excellent” list, which freed up $1.7 million that would have gone towards state mandated performance programs to reduce taxes.

The school district also received a record increase in state aid ($3.3 million, a 12.2 percent increase over the 2007-08 school year), appropriated $2.8 million from the surplus, experienced savings of $800,000 by going to a single health insurer and gained $200,000 in added revenue in the reduction that occurred from the district’s EXCEL aid bond issue.

Despite all that garnered revenue, it is not enough to offset a $5.1 million increase in school district spending and whereby a 2.9 percent tax levy is required. Spending this year will increase by 6.75 percent, the most by any suburban school district. In the last 4 years school district spending has increased by 26.7 percent.

Spending in Administration went up by 5.8 percent, in Program by 6.9 percent and in Capital by 6.8 percent, all at least twice the rate of inflation when the budget was conceived, and then some.

Responsible taxpayers today do not have the funds or means to increase their budget spending by 6.75 percent, they have to set priorities and/or make sacrifices. The school district on the other hand is receiving record state aid and will still seek taxpayer funding to support a budget deemed excessive.

“It’s for the kids” is what we are always told. We all hold to the same principal. My children went through the Lancaster school system and so does my grandchild.

“We need smaller class sizes and more teachers in Special Ed to better provide for our children,” we are told. Perhaps the school district should better communicate what progress is being made utilizing such spending and program measures because we in the private sector have to measure and account for our spending ways.

I say that because what really stands out in the budget is the increase in spending for fringe benefits. We are told of $800,000 in savings by going to a one health insurer plan, yet benefit spending increased in Administration by 10.1 percent ($144,665), in Program by 12.0 percent ($1.45 million) and in Capitol functions by 12.5 percent ($170,000).

In the school board correspondence on the budget, we read, “When it came to trim the budget, we cut things, not people.” It should be added, “nor did we cut salaries, or benefits and/or entitlements.”

The increase in benefits totals $1.77 million, or 34.7 percent of the $5.1 million spending increase. I know a large portion of that goes to pay for mandated retirement benefits, but school districts have to address such increases because the record state aid we are now receiving is coming from a State that is drowning in debt, a 5.5 billion deficit this year; aid that may very well not be guaranteed in the near future.

As every other Lancaster resident, we think highly of our school system and the education it provides. But one has to question whether taxpayers will approve a budget that only has a 2.9 percent tax increase associated with it, or will they consider the rate of spending outlandish as in the past several years and vote the budget down. We shall soon see.

The six candidates vying for the three school board positions voiced that they wanted to take a good school and make it into a great school; placing it within the top ten of Business First rankings. For the past four years Lancaster has languished in the 14th and 15th rank positions and yet has increased spending by 26.7%. Business First will be out shortly. Hopefully, Lancaster’s ranking will improve so that taxpayers see a bang for their buck.

That said I look forward to seeing the three incumbents reelected to the School Board. Although there have been instances where differences of opinion existed, there is a synergy on the board where through cooperation and compromise good decision making has led to appropriate resolve.

I believe the three incumbents have the experience and best interests of the children in mind, as well as the community.

I hope that they will better serve the community in demanding and approving more fiscally responsible future budgets.





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