By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
Even if state legislators win over Gov. Andrew Cuomo with their proposals to increase state aid, the North Syracuse Central School District still will not have enough money to close a projected $2 million gap in its 2016-17 budget.
At the March 21 board of education meeting, Associate Superintendent for Business Services Don Keegan showed how much state aid the district would receive under the governor’s proposed budget as well as the State Senate’s and State Assembly’s proposals.
Last month, Keegan presented the initial 2016-17 budget, projecting expenditures of $155,878,657. Projected revenues stand at $153,816,240 — $2,062,417 less than the proposed expenditures. Total expenditures are up 3.32 percent over the 2015-16 budget. Notably, the BOCES budget is up by 8.23 percent to $14,094,274 and salaries have increased by 4.69 percent to $71,675,000.
According to the governor’s proposed budget, North Syracuse would receive $43,701,446 in foundation aid, an increase of 0.9 percent over what the district received for this year. The district would also receive $1,166,757 toward the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), which both the State Senate and the State Assembly seek to eliminate entirely in their budget proposals.
Overall, North Syracuse would receive $66,966,988 under the governor’s proposal, about 3 percent more than the 2015-16 school year.
In addition to receiving less state aid than expected under the governor’s proposal, Keegan said the district is “not optimistic about any real savings coming from” Cuomo’s proposal of a waiver process for state mandates.
Likewise, the ever-shrinking tax increase cap gives North Syracuse little wiggle room for revenue. According to the state comptroller, North Syracuse can increase its tax levy by only 1.09 percent next year, or $890,665. A resident whose home is assessed at $100,000 could expect to see an increase of $25.30 on their tax bill with the 1.09 percent tax cap.
If the governor accepts the legislature’s budget proposals, the district would receive more foundation aid and total relief from the GEA, but Keegan said that still would not be enough to plug the $2 million hole in the district’s budget.
Whereas Cuomo is offering an increase of $991 million of schools, the Senate’s one-house proposal would give schools $1.66 billion, including $880 million in foundation aid. The Assembly is calling for $2.067 billion, including $1.1 billion in foundation aid and $200 million in funding for community schools and struggling schools. Both houses’ proposals would restore the GEA fully and provide $342 million in expense-based aid.
“The Assembly and the Senate budget proposals represent a 109 percent and 68 percent increase, respectively, over the governor’s budget proposal,” Keegan said in his presentation. “If we assume that our aid (foundation aid and GEA reduction) increased by these percentages, our aid may increase by between $767,251 and $1,218,576, [but] it would not be enough to cover our $2 million deficit.”
Keegan said the district plans to make spending cuts, but school officials must wait for the final state budget numbers before making any decisions.
“We do not anticipate having the ability to restore critical items cut from recent years’ budgets,” he said in his presentation.
The budget will be discussed at the next BOE meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, April 4, at the Jerome F. Melvin Administrative Office Building, 5355 W. Taft Road, North Syracuse.
