Let the budget talks begin

The East Meadow School District kept its current $175 million budget to a record-low increase in expenses from the previous year, and administrators hope to do the same, if not better, for the next spending plan.
   
However, many challenges stare at budget planners as they craft a district spending plan that aims to preserve jobs and programs.
  
Budget season officially began this week as members of the East Meadow Board of Education were presented with a tentative spending plan for 2010-2011 on Jan. 29.
   
The school board is expected to adopt a budget proposal by April 8. District residents will decide at the voting booths on May 18.
   
Though the school board was expected to make its first formal budget-related discussions at its work session on Thursday, administrators like Robert Gorman have been hard at work on the plan since October.
   
Administrators have heard all kinds of threats and actions from Albany and Governor David A. Paterson, including: the halting of December state aid payments and STAR refunds and the governor's most recent executive budget proposal.
   
Gorman, the district's assistant superintendent for business and finance, said the current draft budget includes only expenditures, as the revenue side remains uncertain.
   
"We craft the budget without knowing the revenue," Gorman said. "We don't know what state aid will be."
   
And when aid figures appear set, there is always the threat of the money being held back. That happened in December, when Paterson, citing a budget crunch, withheld state aid and STAR rebate payments to districts statewide. East Meadow's hit was a loss of $141,000 in state aid and $3.1 million in STAR rebates.

Consequently, the East Meadow district had to confront cash-flow problems by delaying payments to some vendors and contractors, officials said.
   
According to Gorman, the district received that state money on Jan. 20, allowing it to return to its regular pay schedule.
   
Another reason for an uncertain revenue picture is the state's own projections. After education aid numbers were released follow Paterson's presentation of the executive budget proposal in January, the district received a letter from the state it would re-release the figures because there were errors in the original ones.
   
The number have since been revised, and East Meadow could lose out on about $700,000 less than it was slotted to receive in state aid last year — from about $40 million down to near $39 million. That figure could increase or decrease depending on the state's divvying of federal stimulus funds for education.
   
In addition to uncertain state aid figures, the district took an additional unexpected hit last year when the state imposed a payroll tax on businesses to help boost the struggling Metropolitan Transportation Authority. School districts were not exempt from this tax, which is .0034 of the payroll. East Meadow had to pay $300,000, which rose the increase on the tax levy from 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent. 
  
Despite the challenges, which also include yearly rises in pensions, benefits and energy costs, administrators and school board members are aiming to create a budget that best suits everyone — from taxpayers to students.
   
"We will try to maintain programs and avoid layoffs while getting the least possible increase for the taxpayer," Gorman said.
   
While analyzing a budget proposal, administrators and school board members must also keep contract negotiations in mind. Several union contracts expire this year, including the East Meadow Teachers Association.
  
"It is the Board's hope that our taxpayers will see that this budget attempts to do as much as we can to keep costs down in order to achieve the most favorable tax levy possible during these tough economic times," said Brian O'Flaherty, school board president. "Hopefully, the demands presented during upcoming negotiations, with our teachers and other groups whose contracts are up, will be such that we will be able to meet our two-fold goal of keeping all of our programs in place and of not having to lay off staff."
   
The school board was slated to meet for a work session on Thursday, after Herald press time. Residents will have an opportunity to weigh in the budget and express their questions and concerns at a public budget input session on March 4. All meetings, unless otherwise noted, are held at the Leon J. Campo Salisbury Center on 718 The Plain Road in Salisbury.