Liverpool — The first glimpse of the Liverpool Central School District’s 2016-17 budget shows that the district must close a $1.6 million shortfall, according to the budget outlook presented by Superintendent Dr. Mark Potter at the Feb. 22 board of education meeting.
But Potter stressed that the numbers he presented Monday are merely preliminary, and much of the budget hinges on state aid negotiations between state legislators and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“This is a proposed budget update rather than a proposed budget,” Potter said.
As it stands, the 2016-17 budget snapshot showed $148,658,000 in expenditures and $147,058,000 in revenue. Potter said the “numbers are very fluid” and he could not predict the potential tax impact per household at this time.
Potter explained that the state-mandated tax increase cap, which is based on the Consumer Price Index, is 0.12 percent. Factoring in the number of new homes built in the district and its capital exemptions, the maximum allowable tax levy increase for Liverpool is 2.2342 percent.
Some school board members balked at the possibility of raising taxes more than 2 percent.
“I can’t support 2.23 percent at any level. I can’t support 2 percent. I’d have a tough time with 1.5 percent,” BOE Vice President John Kennedy said, adding that he’d prefer to see a “modest increase of 1 percent or so.”
Board member Kevin Van Ness protested the number as well.
“Every year that I’ve sat on this board, it seems proportionally the burden of the local taxpayer compared to [state aid] has gone up. At some point … we’re not going to be able to handle that,” Van Ness said.
Potter reminded the board that the budget is not just about “dollars and cents.”
“I want people to focus on what our endgame is, and it’s kids,” Potter said.
Board member Stacey O’Neill Balduf said she would rather see higher taxes than reduced services for students.
continued — “The parents that I talk to don’t want to save $50 on their tax bill and give up something valuable. I think there’s a misconception about what 2.2 [percent] means in your pocket,” Balduf said. “I’d pay that $50 any day to have more technology, to have more counselors, to have more teachers in the room.”
In addition to the constraints of the tax cap, Potter said a faulty foundation aid formula and the Gap Elimination Adjustment are obstacles to crafting a reasonable budget.
“The district has lost $47 million that we will never get back,” he said of the GEA.
Potter said four of Liverpool’s elementary schools have at least 40 percent of students living in poverty. Homelessness and the number of students whose first language is not English are on the rise, as well.
“Not all students have the same opportunities coming from home,” Potter said.
Potter urged district parents to lobby their legislators to support foundation aid reform and full restoration of the GEA this budget year, not over the next two years as Cuomo has proposed. Under the governor’s current proposal, Liverpool is slated to receive $836,034 back from GEA next year.
“I think you’re going to see a marriage between an increase in foundation [and] other aids along with Upstate schools receiving a bigger chunk of the GEA,” Potter said.
Coming up
In addition to hearing about the budget outlook, school officials highlighted two upcoming events:
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The Modified Start Time Committee will hold a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 29, at the district office. BOE members will be attending to ask questions and make comments, and members of the public are welcome to attend.
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The Bresnahan Book Award ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at Barnes and Noble in Clay. The award, which is selected from 10 Charlotte Award nominees by kindergarteners through sixth-graders across the district, is named for the late district librarian Lori Bresnahan. “[The Charlotte Award] was Lori’s favorite award because it was voted on by the students,” said Executive Director of Elementary Education Steven Garaffo, adding that Barnes and Noble “was one of Lori’s favorite places to be.”
