District, teachers talking about insurance costs
2017-18 budget must be trimmed to comply with state’s tax levy cap
The current draft of the 201718 budget must be cut in order for the tax levy not to exceed the state cap.
Facing difficulty finalizing a 201718 budget that can be approved by a simple majority of voters, the Kingston school district is talking with its teachers’ union about how to reduce the district’s health insurance costs, Superintendent Paul Padalino said Wednesday.
The district needs to trim $1.63 million from its current $169.6 million budget draft for 2017-18, or find that much in additional revenue, to comply with the maximum property tax levy allowed by the state.
A school budget proposal in which the tax levy exceeds the state cap must be favored by at least 60 percent of voters at the polls to be approved. Budgets that comply with the cap need only simple-majority approval.
At a Board of Education meeting Wednesday, members and district officials said they have no intention of presenting the public with a budget that would require “supermajority” approval.
“... I think it’s really just off the table to go above the tax levy limit,” board member Robin Jacobowitz said. “I am not in favor of that, and I think we should not go over the tax levy limit.”
District officials expect say health insurance is among the largest drivers of costs in the budget. The 2017-18 insurance tab is forecast to be $36.1 million, which is 14.9 percent more than the 2016-17 amount.
Health insurance costs account for 21.3 percent of the entire 2017-18 spending plan.
Padalino said Wednesday that there have been discussions with the teachers’ union about easing the district’s insurance burden.
“We have engaged with Kingston Teachers Federation about some opportunities for us to collaborate and work toward some moderation of the health insurance increases,” he said. “They’ve come to the table voluntarily ... really in the spirit of doing what’s right for kids and what’s right for the school district. We’re having very good talks, so I feel confident ... some portion of that will come back to the district.”
Another variable in the school budget is state aid. The current draft includes the aid estimate provided by Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this year, but the number is expected to be larger in the state budget ultimately approved by New York lawmakers in Albany.
But there’s no clarity about when the state budget will be approved. The deadline was April 1, and an apparent deal for approval fell apart late Wednesday. That created the possibility that school budgets, which go to voters in mid-May, will have to be finalized before the state Legislature acts.
School board member James Shaughnessy suggested the district appropriate more money from its fund balance to close bring down the tax levy and comply with the state cap. The budget already calls for tapping $1 million of that balance.
“I would be in favor of increasing the allocation from fund balance rather than cutting programs,” Shaughnessy said. “You can’t recover a program. You cut it for a year ... and the students don’t recover it, whereas we have the opportunity in the future to recover any fund balance we might apply.”
Padalino, however, recommended using as little of fund balance as possible.
“Putting fund balance into the budget artificially inflates our revenues un--
less you have enough to do
it multiple years,” the superintendent said. “A lot of districts do that. That’s how people end up with no fund balances.”
The current version of
the 2017-18 budget is 4.9 percent larger than the 2016-17 plan, and it calls for increasing the tax levy by $2.98 million. To comply with the state cap, the levy
increase has to come down to $1.35 million.
The school board expects to vote April 19 to adopt a budget. It then will go to district voters in May 16.