Community Budget Advisory Committee Meeting January 22, 2009, 7 p.m. Maple Hill High School Library Superintendent Doug Hamlin welcomed returning members and thanked new members for attending. About three dozen people attended. New committee members introduced themselves, describing themselves as senior citizens, parents, and teachers, adults without children in the school district, new residents, a village trustee, and a resident who had just lost their job after 20+ years service. John Nicholas volunteered as spokesperson for the group who will work to provide the Board of Education guidance on behalf of the committee. What is the committee selection process, a new member asked. Hamlin responded the criteria for membership on the CBAC is commitment to participating in the remaining meetings. Those who can’t make all the meetings are also welcome to attend and observe. Hamlin reviewed that the committee is charged with learning about the budget process and communicate what they learn with the community. Committee members are encouraged to ask questions and bring questions to the committee from the community. The committee’s guidance is particularly vital given proposed reductions in state aid and four businesses challenging their assessments. Is there a concern that homeowners will also challenge assessments? Director of Businesses and Support Services Sherri Fisher said that was a possibility but so far there have not seen a significant number of such challenges; the real concern is the four businesses with a combined assessment of $58 million. Fisher first presented an overview of the district’s financial situation. • Enrollment: Over the past decade, enrollment district-wide has steadily decreased by 11 percent, with a 2.24 percent decrease in 2008-2009. In 1998, enrollment was 1,231; this year it is 1,093. This trend is expected to continue. Only MHHS enrollment is expected to increase next year, but will start to decrease after that. General Fund: Over the past decade, the district’s general fund has increased by an average of 5.6 percent; the low was 1.2 percent and the high was 9.4 percent. Reasons for this are steady increases in contractual salaries, health insurance, special education, energy and fuel, and state mandated programs. Revenue: Over the past decade, state aid has made up on average 39 percent of the district’s revenues; the low was 36 percent and the high was 41 percent. Property taxes make up just over half of revenues. Over the past decade, the tax levy has increased an average of 5.7 percent; the low was 2.6 percent and the high was 7.6 percent. What is state aid projected at for 2009-2010? Fisher responded about 36 percent at this point. Voting Records: Over the past decade, an average of 56 percent of voters has voted yes for the budget. The high was 65 percent (in 2002-03) and the low
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was 44 percent (2008-2009). The average number of votes cast is 966; 1,268 was the high last year when the budget was defeated. • Tax Rates: Over the past decade (excluding 2008-2009 which was much lower due to the reassessment), the average tax rate increase has been 4.3 percent; the low was 2.9 percent and the high was 7.6 percent. The district is made up of 24 parcels in Stuyvesant and the rest is the town of Schodack. Tax rates are determined by dividing the assessed value of a property by 1,000 then multiplying by the tax rate. (Ex.: a $100,000 home’s tax bill would be 100 times the tax rate.) Equalization Rate: After the town conducted its town-wide reassessment of properties, assessments are now considered to equal the real property value of homes (or what someone could sell their home for). This is a 100 percent equalization rate. In 1998, assessments were only 40 percent of the real property value; that dropped significantly over the years where in 2007, before the reassessment, assessments were only 25 percent of the real property value. Assessed Value: If the total assessment of all properties in town drops or increases, it impacts tax rates because the amount the school district has to raise from taxes (the tax levy) is spread out over a smaller or larger property tax base. The district is now facing shrinking assessment due to four of the largest commercial properties requesting lower assessments. Increasing total assessment in the town would help stabilize tax rates. Historically (19982007), district’s share of assessment base in the Town of Schodack has increased by an average of 1.6% a year, often lower than the rate of inflation. Board member George Warner noted that is lower than the rate of inflation. A resident questioned decreasing assessments since individual home values have gone up. Fisher responded that it’s the total assessed value of all properties that is not increasing substantially. What percentage of the assessed value is commercial and what is residential? Fisher said she wasn’t sure and would find out for the committee. How the District Spends Money – Like all schools, Schodack is a very labor intensive organization. Payroll accounts for 49 percent of the budget; benefits are 20 percent; debt service is 11 percent, BOCES services is 10 percent (primarily special education and Career and Technical Education), utilities and fuel are 3 percent, and various other costs make up 7 percent. As a result, the only way to significantly cut costs is to reduce personnel costs, which make up around 70 percent of the budget. The district has 227 employees. Revenue as Percentage of Budget – Roughly 50 percent of revenues come from property taxes; 39 percent from state aid, 3 percent from fund balance, 3 percent from the Hannaford PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) agreement, and 1 percent from federal funding. If the district was to use all its fund balance, it would have to cut 3 percent from other areas or find additional revenue the following year. Keeping a fund balance helps stabilize tax rates and offset unexpected costs or revenue losses.
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Versions of Budget - The district prepares three draft budgets; they come out on March 19, April 1, and April 23. The final budget is adopted by the Board of Education. All three budget versions are posted on the school website. Current Unknowns – The district faces the following uncertainties: level of state aid, whether the federal economic stimulus plan will help the district, the assessment base for 2009-2010, and the outcome of four commercial property assessment challenges which could reduce assessment and result in retroactive rebates for past tax years. When will the district know the impact of those challenges? Fisher responded that since they’re legal issues, it’s uncertain; however, the impact of the biggest challenge – EPCOR which has said it sold its power plant assessed at $40 million for $10 million – likely will be known in the next few months. Did Hannaford already challenge its assessment? Hamlin responded yes, a number of years ago. The challenge was settled through an agreed upon refund of past taxes and assessment reduction to refund the remaining settlement. One resident said Board of Educations need to be more forceful and demand that schools be financed in a different way as the issues surrounding property taxes are fundamentally flawed and increasing taxes will persist. A committee member said residents need to contact their representatives about it as well. Has there been a study about merging school districts? Fisher said a formal study hasn’t been conducted but that the NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief recommends that school districts less than 1,000 students be required to merge with other districts. Hamlin added that merging might not be beneficial to another school district so it could prove difficult. Residents also have pride in their own schools and might prefer not to merge. What about collaborating to reduce costs? Fisher said the district does already, including participating in consortiums to reduce health costs and buying fuel and supplies on state contract. How many students could the district house? Hamlin responded about 1,500. The resident responded that it would be good to grow the town to fill the school more but high taxes in town could prevent that.
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Superintendent Hamlin detailed enrollment at the three schools. After an increase to 405 students next year next year, MHHS enrollment will start to decrease. CES and MHMS will decrease overall, although next year CES will gain students as fourth grade moves back and MHMS will lose students with the fourth grade move to CES and the move of the second of the two largest classes in the district to the high school. By 2012-13, the district projects to have fewer than 1,000 students. Why is enrollment down? Hamlin responded that low birth rate numbers in the county and fewer people moving in than out of the region and the town are all reasons. High taxes could be a reason residents are leaving Schodack as well. Several residents agreed they may leave after their children graduate because of taxes. Hamlin responded that’s why the district needs the committee’s help in suggesting options to reduce school costs. The Board of Education has enacted class size guidelines, although they are based on historical trends and are used for staffing. CES is currently at or below these
guidelines in almost all sections. The trend over the last decade has been decreasing class sizes. MHMS is currently at or below these guidelines in almost all sections. Are there state maximums for class sizes? Hamlin responded there is a square footage requirement per student. Are there studies about impact of class size on testing results? Hamlin responded that there is no definitive research that supports greater achievement by students in classes our size. There is supportive research for class size reductions from 35-40 to below 30, not sizes relevant to SCSD. How effective was combining grade levels at CES? Principal Jason Chevrier responded they had success but some parents were concerned students weren’t learning as well so it was discontinued. What’s the town’s reaction to promoting growth? Hamlin responded he didn’t want to speak for the town. A resident suggested residents attend town meetings to encourage them. Board of Education member George Warner noted the growth over the last 10 years has been in East Greenbush and taxes are lower as a result. What are the options for layoffs? Hamlin said employees with the least seniority in a certification area are first to be considered. A resident noted that likely means you lose the least expensive and possibly most motivated teachers. Are there retirement incentives? Hamlin responded the state isn’t currently offering any. How many teachers are retiring? Hamlin responded he does not anticipate any retiring; the average teacher age in Schodack is relatively young. CES Principal Jason Chevrier provided an overview of his school. Because elementary schools don’t offer electives, almost everything is mandated. Morning Program is not mandated; however there are currently no plans to eliminate it as it has little cost and is valued by the community. The CES Transition Planning Team has created a new elementary schedule for next year. The biggest change is in physical education. CES currently offers it twice a week for 70 minutes total. Mandates require daily classes for 120 minutes a week. Next year, K-3 will have physical education classes four times a week with health/nutrition learning on the fifth day for 120 minutes total, satisfying the mandate. Grade 4 will have four days a week with 120 minutes total. Music and arts will meet the mandated levels of once a week for 35 or 40 minutes. Library class is not mandated and will be removed from the schedule; teachers will still bring students to library for instruction, however. Would reducing a class section mean the loss of a job? Hamlin responded yes; any significant restructuring due to enrollment reductions would require it. MHMS Principal Michael Bennett provided an overview of his school. A committee is reorganizing schedules as part of an initiative started in March 2008. MHMS offers course options for students so scheduling is complex. Team leaders identified what they considered most important and came up with: common planning time, a dedicated special education teacher for each grade level, seeing kids each day, and a schedule that is the same as high school. In building a schedule, team leaders realized providing everything teachers wanted was difficult so teachers should teach across grade levels. A schedule framework was presented in December but more work remains. Residents asked for more specifics about schedules, which Bennett said would be provided. Are there thoughts of block schedule? Bennett said the current
alternate day block schedule in the Middle School would be replaced with daily class meetings next year. MHHS Principal Robert Horan provided an overview of his school. He said MHHS does extremely well with a 97 to 98 percent graduation rate and students receiving $1.4 million in scholarships last year. MHHS offers a lot of options for students, particularly when they reach their senior year. Some of the class sizes are relatively small because of the options the school offers but also to help students who are struggling. Math in particular is an area Schodack students have difficulty in so a variety of courses are offered to help those who need it. There are also many options in sequential core requirements, including technology, family and consumer science, art, and business. Business courses have very low enrollment. Distance Learning is also growing, which offers students more choices as a small number of Schodack students can join students in other districts to take a course. Federal and state funding fully covers the cost. Is there an opportunity to produce revenue? Hamlin responded yes, and the district is looking at options such as offering college courses for students through distance learning. Superintendent Hamlin wrapped up the meeting asking committee members to digest information and come back with questions. The district has a big problem, a small district that we’re proud of but financial challenges that require significant changes so the community can support it financially.