Proposed Budget Revisions Drop Tax Levy Cost

A revised budget proposal, the resignation of the superintendent and news that central administration staff, but not teachers, will take a one-year salary freeze in light of budget challenges facing the Babylon school district were the top agenda items at last night’s second public budget hearing.

As Patch reported earlier today, the district will soon embark on a new search for a school chief given the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Ellen Best-Laimit who will leave her post at the end of August when her current contract expires.

Best-Laimit also announced that board of education negotiations with the administrative and teacher collective bargaining units have produced a one-year salary freeze for administrators. The teacher unit declined to take similar action as the board would not agree with extending the current contract and other concession requirements, stated board members.

The good majority of last night’s standing-room-only meeting at the high school library focused on further revisions regarding next year’s budget.

The proposed plan now includes reducing the teaching staff by 4.6 positions, up from 3.8, and three fulltime tech support positions.

The teacher layoff includes 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.

There are also additional staff retirements coming into play, bringing the total to six as of last night. The retirement list includes two fulltime vacant positions, in the custodial and clerical areas, that will not be filled.

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

The board of education also upped the amount of fund balance to be applied to budget costs, from the initial amount of $2 million to $2.5 million. That number could increase as revisions continue, noted board members.

The district is still working with one huge unknown: the exact of amount of state aid it will receive given this week’s approval of the state budget.

Under the initial state aid package the school district was slated to get $790,397 in state aid, a 12 percent decrease from this year’s aid amount. Officials said they are hopeful the aid number will be bigger and bring even greater budget savings given lawmakers restored $272 million in education funding.

“If the state boosts the revenue it will only improve the scenario,” said Peter Daly, deputy superintendent, during his budget presentation.

The $46,062,182 million budget proposal revealed last night 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 discussion, the board of education’s finance committee, which met in a public session before the budget hearing, discussed reducing school busing costs by changing the eligibility mileage requirement.

Currently students in K-3 who live three quarters of a mile from the school receive busing and those in K-6 living one mile away are eligible. The new plan calls for providing busing for students K-6 living 1.5 miles from their school.

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.

Many residents attending the meeting, several of whom expressed appreciation for the district’s latest cost savings activity on the budget, believe more can be done in cutting back on spending.

One requested that the board conduct an analysis of administrative positions and job tasks to determine if the current number of administrators is necessary. Another resident asked the board to evaluate current special education spend and strategy and investigate if the district’s BOCES spending is the most cost-effective approach.

The board was also asked why it approved teacher raises last year in light of the impending financial issues, such as increasing health insurance and retirement fund requirements, facing the district. Board members responded they felt contractual increases were warranted at the time.

The finance committee’s next meeting will be held Monday, April 4 at 6:30 at the high school library. The next budget hearing is scheduled for Monday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. Voting on the budget, trustee positions and any referendums will take place May 17.