School district eyes reserve fund for future projects

TROY, N.Y. >> When voters in the Troy City School District overwhelmingly approved more than $22 million in building repairs and improvements last year, one of the biggest selling points was that the work would be done at no cost to local taxpayers.

While that was the result of the sale of School 1 and the assets of the former Ark Community Charter School, as well as savings in other areas of the budget, district officials want to ensure future capital projects come at a similar local cost by creating a reserve fund specifically to cover the dis- trict’s costs.

District Superintendent John Carmello presented the proposal to members of the district’s Board of Education at their Wednesday night meeting at Troy Middle School, suggesting the district set aside about $4.5 million over the next few years to allow the district to complete other necessary building projects without having to turn to the taxpayer.

Establishing a capital reserve

fund requires voter approval, however, so Carmello asked the board to consider adding it to the ballot for the May 16 vote at which residents will also decide on a 2017-18 district budget. The board scheduled a special meeting for 6 p.m. Monday in the Troy Room at Troy Middle School to discuss and vote on the measure.

“The purpose is to try to plan ahead,” Carmello said at the meeting. “We need to plan and continue planning for future capital projects.”

The project approved by voters in 2016 addressed the most pressing needs identified in Building Condition Surveys required every five years by the state Education Department and most recently compiled in 2015. Carmello said that even after that project is completed, however, about another $27 million in work remains to address all issues identified in the surveys. By setting aside $4.5 million, he said the district could leverage state funding to complete

the remaining work at no cost to taxpayers.

Carmello said that if approved by the board and voters, the reserve fund would be filled similarly to how the district paid the local share of the current project, setting aside onetime revenue such as from property sales, as well as budgeted money that goes unspent. With the state paying about 85 percent of the cost of such projects, Carmello said a $4.5 million investment by the district would be matched by $25.5 million in state aid.

With an estimated price tag of $50 million to address every issue identified in the state-mandated surveys, officials initially established three levels of priorities for addressing problems that ranged from broken doors, cracked pavement, discolored floors and deteriorating roofs to outdated heating and electrical systems. The resulting work included in the capital plan approved last year includes only projects with the highest priority, with lesser needs left to be addressed in future years, as other funding becomes available.

The school board also received an update on the

district’s 2017-18 budget proposal, though Carmello said there was actually little news as officials await final aid figures once Gov. Andrew Cuomo and leaders of the state Senate and Assembly agree to a state budget. Officials did cut nearly $ 350,000 in personnel costs to reflect anticipated savings from the expected retirements of 10 district employees while adding $200,000 to the plan from a reserve fund set up for worker’s compensation costs, but Carmello said they still need to come up with another $2 million — with Cuomo’s proposed state aid already figured in — to bring a proposed property tax increase under the state-mandated cap of 0.45 percent.

The first draft of that budget proposal increased total spending by only about $675,000, or about 0.6 percent, but because of the inclusion of $ 3.5 million in last year’s budget for the capital project, operational costs are up by about $4.2 million, or about 3.8 percent. If approved without change, officials estimated that proposal would include a tax increase in the range of 9 percent.