Babylon Schools Get a Bit More State Aid

The Babylon School District is getting a little more state aid than initially expected and whether the additional monies will further trim the tax rate, or restore staff and or programs now on the chopping block, will likely be the main discussion topic at tonight’s board of education finance committee meeting.

The newly adopted state budget restores $121,235 in aid for the district, about a 1.2 percent increase from the 12 percent aid cut initially predicted.

The current budget proposal aims to reduce the teaching staff by 4.6 positions and three fulltime tech support positions. The proposed layoffs include a physical education job, a kindergarten teacher position as the result of declining enrollment, as well as the loss of a .6 teaching role in foreign language and a .2 position for teaching American Sign Language.

The budget also includes the reduction of six assistant varsity coaches, the elimination of the intramural sports program and a bond debt refinance.

The finance committee may also decide to reduce the amount of fund balance being used to off-set this year’s tax impact. Initially the board of education planned to apply $2 million but upped that number to $2.5 million at the last budget hearing.

The current $46,062,182 million budget proposal represents a 2.6 percent increase over the current budget and a 3.73 percent tax levy increase. The average cost for taxpayers, with an average home assessment of $4,299, would be $299 for the year, said Daly.

The initial budget proposal announced earlier this month was a $46,329,000 spending plan that would have brought a tax increase of 5.96 percent.

The current school budget is $44.9 million and represents a 1.93 tax rate increase over the previous year and a 2.43 percent budget increase.

As part of its budget discussions, the finance committee is also considering reducing school busing costs by changing the eligibility mileage requirement.

The transportation change, which would save $275,000 and drop the current number of buses from nine to three, would need voter approval as a separate ballot item in May. If approved along with the budget proposal the amount would then be applied to lowering the tax levy impact, said board members.

The next budget hearing will be held Monday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. Voting on the budget, trustee positions and any referendums will take place May 17.