Schools

Massapequa School Board Adopts Budget

Budget calls for 1.72 percent spending increase and 1.64 percent tax levy increase.

The Massapequa Board of Education adopted a budget for 2011-12 Thursday night.

The $179 million budget calls for a 1.72 percent increase in spending and a 1.64 percent tax hike.

School officials touted those numbers because it would bring the Massapequa budget under Gov. Cuomo's proposed 2 percent tax cap.

Find out what's happening in Massapequawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We have worked diligently since August not only to strategically preserve programs in the district  but to come in with a budget increase and any tax levy increase that would be under the tax cap," said Deputy Superintendent  Alan Adcock, who was in charge of putting the plan together.

Although the estimated expenditures in the proposed budget add up to $181.5 million, the district used  almost $6 million reserve funds, often called "rainy day funds" to offset some of those expenditures and lower the tax levy.

Find out what's happening in Massapequawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The plan does not come without pain as it will result in the elimination 20 to 30 staff positions and about 17 to 25 layoffs, according to school superintendent Charles Sulc.

But Sulc said the spending plan accomplished what the district set out to do.

"All of the things that our elected officials in Albany have been talking about are part and parcel of what is a very frugal budget," he said.

But during the question and answer period, Joseph Marsh, of  the Massapequa Committee for Education and Fiscal Responsibility a group dedicated to lowering school taxes, took issue with the Superintendent.

"To sit and hear Mr. Sulc say that he believes this is a frugal budget is a little off base," Marsh said.

He argued that when the actual costs of running the district came in at the end of the year, they turn out to be lower over the last two years than what the district estimated. But spending has still gone up.

"Now, not only is it going up by another 3.5 million, but we're dipping into reserve funds, " Marsh said.

Sulc responded by saying that the district had been planning long term for the possibility of a tax cap and that the district's use of reserve funds have been in line with guidelines put forth by the state comptroller.

"Having said that, there were mandated costs this year," he said.

"If those mandatory cost increases weren't there, that budget would have been "3.5 million lower on the expenditure side."

After the meeting, Marsh said he wasn't satisfied with Sulc's  answer saying he had previously asked for a list of what the district considers to be unfunded mandates. 

"You know what's on it?" he asked. "The retirement system costs. There's not an employer in the country that doesn't have retirement costs. FICA, you've got FICA as an unfunded mandate, Really? Everybody pays FICA, it's a cost of doing business."

All of the board members present at the meeting voted to adopt the budget. Thomas Caltabiano was unable to attend but board president Christine Lupetin Perrino read a letter from him into the record, saying that even though he didn't vote, he will support the budget going forward. 

There will be a public hearing on the budget on May 5, and the public vote will take place, May 17.

 


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