School Board Defends Budget Reserves, Revisits Full-Day K

In a marathon session which lasted past midnight on Monday, Oct. 25 at the William J. Brosnan School, the Northport-East Northport Board of Education heard from members of the community who are concerned about the large amount of money currently being held in reserves in the 2010-11 school budget.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Kathleen Molander delivered a report on the revised tax levy for the current school year.  Since the budget was approved in May, state aid increased by roughly $90,000, and the fund balance was revised from $300,000 to $350,000.  This resulted in a revised tax rate per 100 of assessed valuation of $159.27, which was lower than the previous estimate of $160.30.  Putting this in layman's terms, Molander said the average taxpayer with an assessed value of $3,800 can expect a school tax bill of $6,052.26. The assessed value of a property can be found on the tax bill. Dividing that number by 100 and then multiplying it by the valuation number determines the amount of the tax.

Molander explained that several factors contributed to the revised numbers, including an effort to restrict extra pay such as overtime.  Total revenue and expenditures were not calculated until after June 30, and there were unanticipated leave replacements who were compensated at a lower rate.  Trustee Lori McCue asked if the revision to the fund balance would hurt the district's bond rating.  Molander said it would not.

Albert Prisco, a community member in the audience, questioned the district's need to borrow money given the fact that homeowners pay a portion of their taxes twice a year. "It's costing the taxpayer a lot of money with the interest," he said.  Molander explained that because the fiscal year begins July 1, the district needs to borrow money to pay its vendors.  However, she said that because of the district's excellent bond rating, the interest rate is a very low .345%, which results in only $110,000 in interest.

Later in the evening, Nina Dorata, a member of United Taxpayers of Northport-East Northport, questioned a motion to change the amount of the Retirement Contribution Reserve Fund from $1.9 million to $4.7 million. "When you add up all these reserves, the district underspent the budget by $9.3 million," she said.

Dr. Marylou McDermott, Superintendent of Schools, disagreed. "If the district were to overspend the budget, we would be breaking the law." She explained that the goal is to have enough reserves on hand to deal with unanticipated expenses, and to avoid spikes in the budget.

Denise Summers Mumm, also a member of United Taxpayers of Northport-East Northport and a former board trustee, suggested that such practices make the budget process "shallow."  Dorata agreed, saying "If you keep a steady tax rate, it gives the impression that all is well." She suggested that the Board consider using actual data when creating the budget, and requested that additional resources be brought in to help put together the budget.

The issue of reserves came up again later in the evening when Jessica Sweeney, a Northport resident, asked if the district would re-consider implementing a full-day kindergarten program.  Reading from a letter she had submitted, Sweeney said, "I do not see the need for an almost $9 million reserve. Couldn't we use some of these funds to implement this much-needed full-day program? The district's own kindergarten study estimates that it will cost $6 million to implement but that seems like a high figure. Maybe there are ways to implement a full-day program for less." She questioned why the William J. Brosnan School couldn't be used, and asked why the district leases space in the building to Island Kids, a private day care center.

Board President Stephen J. Waldenburg explained that options for use of the site as a full-day kindergarten had already been explored. "There are other operations going on here. We've looked at trying to expand. We've looked at redistricting. There isn't the room to make this a kindergarten center for the district."

Trustee Tim Madden, a member of the committee that had studied the full-day kindergarten issue, said that 90% of districts on the Island have adopted full-day programs.  "We have to look at long term solutions to this issue."

Waldenburg concurred, and the board agreed to add it to the agenda for a future meeting.