Last Wednesday, the Levittown School District revealed a budget for 2012-13 that called for a 4 percent decrease from the district’s 2011-12 budget. That doesn’t mean the district will be free of constraints from that tax cap, though.
In October, board vice president Peter Porrazzo warned residents that most of that two percent revenue would be used towards pension and healthcare increases. The 4 percent decrease in budget helps combat this somewhat. But there is still a gap between how much money the district can raise and how much money is budgeted.
“It’s the budgeted amount that’s going down, not the actual expenditure,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Grossane. “There’s an increase in health costs, there’s an increase in retirement contributions. Cost of living is 3 percent, so everything we purchase is going up anywhere from 3 percent to 10 percent. That’s why the actual costs to keep this budget [and] to keep these services has actually gone up.”
Due to certain exemptions, mostly from capital expenditures, the district can actually raise the tax levy by 2.54 percent for 2012-13. Still, the amount of revenue they can raise is capped at $128,188,161. If you combine that with approximately $46 million in State aid, it leaves the district approximately $15 million short of its proposed budget.
Some of that will be made up in rent payments from BOCES, from fund balance and from other areas, although the district hopes to avoid using reserve funds this year. But the district may still need to trim, and those discussions will come up at next Wednesday’s board session.
Another crucial aspect of the tax cap bill is that a district can go over the allotted tax levy if they choose. To do so, however, they will need to pass a budget with 60 percent of the vote. Levittown has no plans to do that. In fact, they may not even use the extra cushion that exemptions provide them.
“What does everyone think their taxes are going up next year? 2 percent,” Grossane said. “That’s all you’ve ever heard is 2 percent. What we have to determine in looking at that is, instead of going for 2-and-a-half, we go out for the 2 like everyone’s expecting, where does that put us financially?”
The 2 percent tax cap will put many districts in a race against time, as they use whatever fund balances and reserve funds they have to cover whatever costs they need. If there is good news for Levittown, though, it’s that they made tough decisions last year, cutting a significant number of teaching jobs without a significant jump in class sizes. While they may still run out of fund balance and reserve funds, it will likely take three or four years. Some districts upstate are up against that wall this year.
“If they didn’t make those cuts last year, we would be making those cuts this year,” Grossane said. “While it was unpopular at the time, I think in the long run it showed everybody that this is the right amount of staff to be functioning with as we move forward.”
I can't find one person that can show what the district/student or taxpayer received in the last 2 contracts, but I have a list of items the teachers recieved.
NOBODY WILL BY YOUR HOUSE AND PAY THAT AMOUNT OF TAX. NOBODY! TIME TO LEAVE NOW BEFORE IT'S TO LATE!
You are a teacher I understand. Where do you teach and how much do you make for your 180 days a year; $80K, $100K, over $100K? Just so we know where you are coming from.
Let’s see now, according to you the majority of teachers don’t want to make $100K for a 180 day year, but the union bullies make them take the money. And they don’t really want the pensions and benefits either, again it’s the bullies. So I guess that if only you had taken “enough interest in past generous negotiated contracts” then things would have been different and the bullies would have been dispatched into exile. Then we could have all lived in harmony since greed never played a role here, only union bullies. I would be interested to know if anyone else here is buying this story.
Teachers are not supposed to be part of the capitalist free market system; they are in a protected class. They are public servants who work for a public monopoly and are paid by the taxpayers. Unlike those who have to compete daily for their jobs and positions, teachers get tenure and are protected and they never get fired for incompetence. They like to remind us again and again that they do it for the children, not for the money like those capitalists in the business world. That is why they deserve the pensions and benefits that businessmen don’t get. But wait a minute, in addition to that angel on their right shoulder, apparently there is also a little devil on the left shoulder whispering in their ears “make the most money you can.” So we would expect that from businessmen who have to compete every day, and don’t care about the children the way teachers do, and don’t expect guaranteed public pensions and lifetime healthcare. But we bought the whole propaganda line from the teachers and their union that says they’re different. So when they use their leverage in “making the most money they can” they are betraying their own excuse for their protected status as public professionals. Many did take “notice of what was going on for years” but were unable to stop it given the power of the teacher union. You can’t even stop it now.
1) Teachers don’t compete like the private sector, 2) Teachers have tenure and can’t be fired, 3) Teachers don’t get paid for performance, 4) Teachers get generous taxpayer funded pensions and lifetime benefits, 5) Teachers don’t act in the best interest of the children; they threaten the children at contract time, 6) Teachers work half the hours of others and only have to deal with children, not adult clients, 7) Teachers have a heavy influence on school board elections and get what they want’ 8)Then teachers go on Patch and appeal for sympathy.
You are an ignorant, insulting petty jealous man. You are not worth anymore time. Keep ranting against teachers and everything long island.
To you points, teachers don’t compete; they may need some cronyism connection to get the job, but once they secure their tenure, they are set. How many teachers have been fired for non-performance? And we both know that there are really no performance standards after tenure is granted, otherwise why would they need tenure; other jobs don’t get tenure? Oh, and the one you can’t (won’t) respond to, teachers hold the children hostage when they threaten to strike if they don’t get what they want. How do you think LI got into this mess. As far as the hours its simple, a regular job is about 2000 hours (40 X 50 weeks although most work more) and the teacher’s contract calls for a maximum of 180 days minus 12 sick days (which they can accumulate) minus 5 personal days = 163 days X 6 hours = 978 hours per year. And please don’t try that rubbish about all the outside hours. We know the teacher unions run and support their own candidates for BoE (something that should be illegal) and heavily influence the elections through campaign contributions. You can call me “an ignorant, insulting petty jealous man” all you want but you have proven yourself to be nothing but a shill for the teacher unions.
Long Island's governments, school districts and public agencies will be billed more than $3 billion to finance the pensions of public workers in the next two years, according to a Newsday analysis. http://longisland.newsday.com/templates/simpleDB/?pid=374&brand=newsday&fieldSelect-Retirement_system=Teachers&q=