Trustees Send Budget to Voters with 3.54% Tax Increase
A last minute infusion of more than $1.2 million in additional state aid allowed Huntington School Board members to reduce next year’s projected tax rate increase to 3.54 percent. Trustees voted to send the proposed budget to residents for a public vote on Tuesday, May 20. None of the new aid was allocated to additional spending.
School Board members spent weeks going through a draft of the budget before settling on $103,617,414 spending plan. The amount represents an increase of $4,418,059 or 4.45 percent over the current year. School officials attribute much of the increase to the areas of general teaching and instruction ($1,489,344), programs for students with disabilities ($942,333), employee health insurance ($899,000), student transportation ($489,789) and Social Security ($189,000).
During the budget development process, more than $2.4 million in spending reductions were made in an effort to hold down property taxes. “Although selected staffing reductions were required in this budget, both the School Board and administration are confident that this budget will continue to provide for an academic program second to none,” School Board President Richard McGrath said.
Early in the budget cycle Governor Eliot Spitzer proposed a reduction in Huntington’s state aid, which initially led officials to calculate a potential tax rate increase of 4.97 percent. However, the final state budget approved by the Assembly and Senate and signed into law by now-Governor David Patterson, hiked Huntington’s aid by $1,224,429. Trustees voted unamimously to apply the entire state aid increase toward reducing the tax rate.
Assistant Superintendent David H. Grackin said the budget relies on $11,649,429 in state aid, $1,911,500 in miscellaneous revenues, $1.35 million in fund balance from this year and $88,706,485 in property taxes.
If voters approve the budget on May 20, the tax rate is projected to go from $183.98 per $100 of assessed valuation to $190.50. The average homeowner would see their taxes increase by $261 before the STAR program reduces that amount.
The proposed budget allocates $491,772 for new textbooks and workbooks, $62,532 for new library books, $105,000 for additional computer software, $130,791 for new instructional equipment, including computers and $12,800 for buildings and grounds department tools and equipment.
The budget also funds 68 interscholastic athletic teams, 99 coaching positions and a full-time athletic trainer and it provides a full program of wholesome, adult supervised after school extracurricular activities, including about six dozen clubs for students in grades 4-12.
“Our goal is to achieve an appropriate balance between providing the educational resources our children need and deserve, with the stark economic reality impacting our taxpayers,” Mr. McGrath said. “We believe this budget achieves that balance.”
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