Rockville Centre school, library budget vote set for Tuesday

Residents of the Rockville Centre school district will go to the polls on Tuesday to vote on proposed school and library budgets as well as candidates for the school and library boards, who are all in uncontested races.

The proposed 2011-12 school spending plan totals $95.7 million, a 2.4 percent increase over the current budget — the second-lowest increase in 19 years. With property values down 2 percent since last year, the average home in the village is said to be worth $595,000, compared with last year’s average of $607,000. If the budget is approved, homeowners would likely see an increase in the tax levy of nearly 5.5 percent, or $400 more in school taxes for the average household. Residents with assessments that fell less than 2 percent could see a greater increase, as would residents with homes valued above the average.

School officials have repeatedly said they are aware of the financial pressures on district residents, and that they worked to keep expenses down, while ensuring high-quality education with no program cuts, as residents have come to expect. But a reduction of as much as $1.1 million in state aid next year will affect the tax levy, as will a dramatic drop in the district’s interest income due to low interest rates.

Administrators say they saved money by negotiating union contracts that include salary freezes, increased health insurance contributions and other givebacks from employees. As it did last year, the district is offering a retirement incentive, and it is using reserves to offset increases that would normally be included in the budget.

The only significant change in spending is the addition of one teacher to complete the implementation of the elementary foreign language program, fulfilling a pledge made several years ago by the Board of Education.