Second Draft of School Budget Calls for 8 Percent Tax Rate Increase

The Sayville Board of Education proposed its second draft of the 2011-2012 budget at its workshop meeting on Wednesday, after making amendments to the , which was presented in February.

Here’s how the revised proposed budget breaks down. The budget is now at $82.2 million, down from the first round of $82.85 million. The percentage of budget increase now stands at 4.4 percent, which is down from the 5.3 percent at the onset of budget talks. Lastly, the proposed increase on the tax rate is 8 percent from the 10.23 percent hike in round one. This equates to roughly $520 per household on average.

“Through attrition and decreased students enrollment, we were able to reduce staffing by 5.7 full time employees,” said John Belmonte, assistant superintendent of business. “This resulted in a budgetary reduction of $651,204.” The additional use of $480,000 in reserve funds helped to offset the increase in Employee Retirement Services and unemployment costs, he added.

The Sayville School District is losing $2.3 million in state aid next year and will be applying $3.1 million in reserve fund balance to make up for these losses. The budget development process will continue at every scheduled board meeting through May. The board is encouraging the public’s involvement in the budget process.

On March 13-14, board members Norm deVeneau and John Verdone are traveling to Albany to meet with the legislators and said that they hope to bring as many letters as possible from the Sayville community. According to deVeneau and Verdone, the community should be asking for mandate relief (fund it); Long Island’s fair share of the state aid; and when the tax cap comes into effect, maintaining local control.

“We have worked very hard to get where we are today,” Verdone said. “Long Island’s product used to be manufacturing. Now it’s education that we are known for. The most devastating part of the tax cap is your vote will now count as less. They are chipping away at local control.”

The updated budget report and a list of board meeting dates are available online at www.sayville.k12.ny.us.

In other news, the district is starting preparations for the opening of the high school’s Wellness Center on May 22. Along with the official ribbon cutting and grand opening of the center, there will be a 5K community run for ages seven and up and a fun run for the younger children. United Health Care has sponsored the run and local merchants can also participate, either with their name on the back of t-shirts or with a table set up during the event.