$1.5M — The approximate increase in state funding anticipated in the proposed budget.
1.8% — Proposed increase in tax levy from last year.
As the state prepared to release its school aid runs after weeks of discussions, South Colonie Central School District considered the implications on future budgets during its second budget presentation.
The state government released preliminary school aid numbers Tuesday morning, March 31, before finalizing the budget on the April 1 deadline, but South Colonie was still wary about counting the preliminary numbers for its Tuesday night budget presentation. However, no matter what the school district received in state aid, district officials said being stringent with additional revenue might be best to counteract future budget increases.
The second budget proposal for South Colonie’s 2015-16 school year totaled $96.14 million, which is an increase of about $21,000 from the first budget draft. The year-to-year increase would still be less than 1 percent, or $869,226, with the tax levy increase remaining the same at 1.8 percent.
The increase from the first to second draft is due mostly to the addition of another elementary school teacher and a school monitor for the high school. Four rather than seven late bus runs would be added. As well, with the earth science program shifting from the middle to high school, another 0.3 teaching position was found to be needed.
Sherri Fisher, assistant superintendent for Management Services and Strategic Planning, said that, for the second draft, she only added an increase in state aid projections to account for that $21,000.
According to the budget released Wednesday, South Colonie will receive $21.8 million, which is $1.5 million more than 2014-15. The Gap Elimination Adjustment will be restored about $1 million, bringing the gap to $1.7 million in total.
Despite the increase in state aid, Fisher said that the district should take into consideration how the budget was balanced for 2015-16 when drafting the final budget proposal. This year, school district saw a large drop in pension contributions, about $1.6 million according to Fisher, which she said significantly helped keep the budget balanced in planning. Next year, though, districts will probably not see such a drop again.
“We do not anticipate next year, we are going to have that same amount of reduction,” said Fisher. She said that the district would see between $1.6 to $1.7 million in payroll growth for 2016-17, as well as about $800,000 to $1 million more in health insurance. This means a potential increase of $2.5 to $2.7 million in the 2016-17 budget overall.
“If we assume we can raise $1.2 million in our tax levy, that’s going to leave us with a need for additional state funding to balance next year’s budget,” Fisher said. “So part of the thought process was that we may want to consider reducing the amount of appropriated fund balance and kind of hold up the reserve (funds) to support our budget for next year.”
While the board is scheduled to meet Tuesday, April 21, to discuss the third budget draft and vote, board members said they were likely to meet before then now that school aid runs have been released.
The district will hold a public hearing on the budget Tuesday, May 5, at 7 p.m. in the Saddlewood Elementary cafeteria. The public will vote on whether to pass the budget two weeks later, May 19, at all elementary schools. More information in the budget, including presentations, can be found at www.southcolonieschools.org.
