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Faced with mandatory spending increases and less state aid to fund the cost, Ilion school district officials said its going to be a tight budget this year.
Business Manager Ken Long presented the preliminary spending plan to the school board Monday night. Long said the first draft shows $24.7 million for the 2010-2011 budget, versus the 2009-2010 budget at $23.8 million - about a 3.9 percent increase. He said the highest increases are contractual, being made several years ago, and include salaries, payroll taxes, health insurance and pension costs district-wide. The increases will total $742,517, or about 5 percent.
“The salaries we have are based on the contracts that are already in place,” he said in a phone interview.
Long said the school district also faces cuts from the state — over $617,000 less compared to last year. He said smaller, more rural school districts depend on state aid to function — about three-quarters of their budget — compared to larger, more urban schools where the state aid makes up only 10 percent of the budget.
“When the state runs out of money, it hurts us,” he said.
Superintendent Cosimo Tangorra said the numbers are really too unclear at this time to comment on. He said the real budget work will be done down the road during budget workshops. He said it was too early to comment on how it would effect the tax levy or how it would effect jobs or programs.
As for the gap in state aid, Tangorra said the board will have to review how to handle it.
“We’ll have to make some decisions about how to address it,” he said.
School districts in the area are facing similar problems with the state planning to cut funding overall in education. If Gov. David Paterson’s executive budget passes, with a deadline of April 1, the cuts will be felt in school districts’ budgets.
Last month, the Mohawk Central School District announced if the governor’s budget is passed they may have to increase the tax rate 32 percent to maintain current services.
School boards, including Mohawk and Ilion, over the next month will be attempting to adjust spending to present manageable tax increases.
Long said this is one of a series of school board meetings that will focus on the school budget. Next board meeting will focus on state revenues.
Faced with mandatory spending increases and less state aid to fund the cost, Ilion school district officials said its going to be a tight budget this year.
Business Manager Ken Long presented the preliminary spending plan to the school board Monday night. Long said the first draft shows $24.7 million for the 2010-2011 budget, versus the 2009-2010 budget at $23.8 million - about a 3.9 percent increase. He said the highest increases are contractual, being made several years ago, and include salaries, payroll taxes, health insurance and pension costs district-wide. The increases will total $742,517, or about 5 percent.
“The salaries we have are based on the contracts that are already in place,” he said in a phone interview.
Long said the school district also faces cuts from the state — over $617,000 less compared to last year. He said smaller, more rural school districts depend on state aid to function — about three-quarters of their budget — compared to larger, more urban schools where the state aid makes up only 10 percent of the budget.
“When the state runs out of money, it hurts us,” he said.
Superintendent Cosimo Tangorra said the numbers are really too unclear at this time to comment on. He said the real budget work will be done down the road during budget workshops. He said it was too early to comment on how it would effect the tax levy or how it would effect jobs or programs.
As for the gap in state aid, Tangorra said the board will have to review how to handle it.
“We’ll have to make some decisions about how to address it,” he said.
School districts in the area are facing similar problems with the state planning to cut funding overall in education. If Gov. David Paterson’s executive budget passes, with a deadline of April 1, the cuts will be felt in school districts’ budgets.
Last month, the Mohawk Central School District announced if the governor’s budget is passed they may have to increase the tax rate 32 percent to maintain current services.
School boards, including Mohawk and Ilion, over the next month will be attempting to adjust spending to present manageable tax increases.
Long said this is one of a series of school board meetings that will focus on the school budget. Next board meeting will focus on state revenues.
