Governor Proposes State Aid Increase for Huntington
The Huntington School District would gain nearly $350,000 in additional state aid if Governor Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal is enacted into law by the New York State Legislature.
"The total proposed funding for and attention to education exceeds the expectations of many," Huntington Superintendent James W. Polansky said. Mr. Cuomo has proposed that Huntington's state aid be increased by an estimated $348,176 or 2.93 percent to $12,222,979. Across the state, regular state aid would grow by $611 million or three percent.
An additional $203 million is earmarked for "fiscal stabilization" funding to cover increases in such fixed costs as pension contributions, but the budget does not provide any information as to how these monies would be allocated to individual districts.
The proposed state budget also continues the so-called "gap elimination adjustment" that was signed into law by Governor David Patterson to help eliminate New York's budget gap in 2010/11. The adjustment appears on state aid "runs" as a deduction to each district's formula aid. The "run" includes a breakdown by state aid category for each district.
Huntington's total state aid figure includes the loss of $2,179,230 as a result of this year's gap elimination adjustment. Mr. Polansky said earlier this winter that the district would need to make cuts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet the state's tax levy cap law.
Mr. Cuomo has also proposed the creation of a waiver process, which if enacted would allow districts to petition the state for some degree of flexibility in meeting certain special education mandates.
Huntington School District executives are analyzing the state aid proposal as they finalize development of a draft budget that is expected to be presented to trustees in mid-February.