A tax-cap anomaly for high school district

As school budget season begins, the Valley Stream Central High School District finds itself in a unique position. According to administrators, the district’s maximum allowable tax increase — the amount by which it can increase revenue through property taxes — may be a negative number.

Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich said the oddity is due to a bond referendum that was passed by the community 15 years ago, for which the $3 million in annual payments is now coming off the books. The bond funded facilities and technology upgrades.

“This appears to be an anomaly,” Heidenreich said. “And we believe that we are the probably the first, if not one of three or four communities throughout the state of New York, that finds themselves in this position.”

Even if the Board of Education adopts a 2014-15 budget with no tax levy increase, it may require a 60 percent supermajority from voters to pass since, technically, it would exceed the cap. However, if such a budget were to fail, it would automatically go into effect anyway, since it would have no increase. Heidenreich said he didn’t think elected officials foresaw this possibility when they crafted the tax cap law.

The anomaly means that the district has $3 million to use, so no programs or positions have to be cut. Instead, Heidenreich said, “The $3 million that was being used for the principal and the interest [on the bond] can now be directed toward program and instruction.” That will make the budget planning process dramatically different from last year, when spending had to be cut by $2.5 million, and many positions and programs were eliminated.

“Exceeding the tax cap has a negative connotation,” said Dr. Wayne Loper, assistant superintendent of finance and operations. “But we’re talking about exceeding it by 0.99 percent, which would be [one of] the lowest tax levy increases ever. We’ll be one of the lowest increases in Nassau County, if not the lowest.”

At the board’s Feb. 4 committee meeting, Heidenreich will present several variations of next year’s budget for trustees to consider, with tax levies including no increase and a .99 percent increase, both of which might require a supermajority to pass in May.