School district plans budget
Next meeting slated for March 6
The first of five budget presentations was given at the Ballston Spa Central School District school board’s meeting on Wednesday evening at the high school library, with approximately 50 people present.
The 2018-19 budget planning process began in November, which included an annual review of the district’s goals, principles and guidelines, according to the district.
The principles and guidelines include the development of a budget that will support the district’s academic goals while keeping a focus on fiscal responsibility. The district guidelines also state that changes or increases in funding for future budgets “must be justified by state and federal standards and mandates, enrollment, health/safety issues and district/ building goals,” according to district documents.
The preliminary presentation was given by Brian Sirianni, clerk of the board, who gave an overview of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state aid proposal and explained the governor’s proposed funding caps for expense-based aid for the fiscal year 2018-19.
Sirianni said the proposals are intended to provide oversight for what he called “high need” districts, adding that “doesn’t apply to us.”
Included are proposed caps on STAR reimbursements, BOCES, transportation, building aid and special services. Sirianni said the proposed caps are “just proposals and we hope they will stay that way,” meaning that he does not want to see the proposals implemented.
Sirianni said that 54 percent of school budget funding comes from tax revenue and 33 percent comes from state aid, with the balance coming from all other miscellaneous resources, one percent of which comes from the district’s fund balance.
The PILOT payment made by GlobalFoundries will also continue to decrease, which is an issue for the district.
Sirianni said the assessed value on the property will continue to drop by approximately $43 million annually.
In 2019, the assessed value will be $556 million.
Sirianni also pointed to the tax rate comparisons, which shows an overall decrease for towns in the school district, and he said the budget drivers for fiscal year 2019 are the increases in the retirement rate change and medical insurance, with a particular emphasis on the soaring cost of prescription drugs.
“Our medical insurance costs are stable, but the cost of prescription drugs is medical madness,” said Sirianni.
He also said the costs of transportation and special education services continues to grow, pointing out that four years ago the budget for service and transportation of special needs students was approximately $77,000 and this year that number has risen to $260,000.
Sirianni said the next budget meeting on March 6 will focus on allowable tax levy limits, expenditure information, and revenue updates, if available at that time.
The estimated total budget will be ready by the meeting on March 21. Following the March budget unveiling, there will be two more meetings on April 11 and 18, and a final budget hearing is scheduled for May 2.
The statewide school budget vote will be held on May 15.
Last May, voters approved the district’s $90.34 million 2017-18 budget proposal. That budget represented a 2.1 percent budget increase, and a 2.9 percent tax levy increase, with an average 0.6 percent tax rate increase, according to information from the district. The tax impact was expected to be roughly $22 for the average single family home assessed at $225,000, the district said.