JOHNSTOWN - Area schools, some of which are still reeling from this year's severe budget cuts, are going to be hit hard by the state's new 2 percent tax cap, according to leaders who spoke at the Mohawk-Sacandaga School Boards Association meeting Monday night.
Richard Timbs, executive director of the Statewide School Finance Consortium, explained the complexities of the tax cap, saying that unless the state increases aid to schools or lifts costly mandates from them, the only way districts will be able to balance their budgets and stay under the tax cap will be to drain their fund balances and cut positions. However, some districts already have nearly exhausted their fund balances, and many slashed programs and positions for their 2011-12 budgets. Timbs said reserves will only keep districts afloat for a year or two if change doesn't come from the state.
The greatest portion of school budgets is devoted to salaries, health insurance, pensions and special education mandates, according to Timbs, and without reform in these areas, school districts could be facing what was previously unknown in public education - bankruptcy. There is no established bankruptcy process for New York state public schools because - before the tax cap, at least - they could always raise taxes to cover their expenses.
Timbs presented a four-point plan for the state to control education costs: freeze wages for all public school employees when state aid is frozen or reduced, cap the amount a school district can spend on health insurance and require employees to pay a larger share, require public employees to contribute significantly more to their pensions and reduce special education costs by bringing New York state regulations into conformance with federal guidelines.
New York has 204 mandates beyond the federal requirements for special education, said Timothy Kremer, executive director of the New York State School Boards Association. He suggested a blanket repeal of all mandates and then choosing which ones to retain.
Timbs and Kremer both said the key strategy will be communication with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state legislators.
"You will have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty," Timbs encouraged the area superintendents and school board members who attended the meeting at the HFM BOCES campus on Route 67.
He said the time is over for being shy in Albany, and instead of merely informing the governor of what's needed, school administrators need to insist on changes.
"When discussing challenges with the governor and legislators, put it in terms of jobs," said Dustin Swanger, president of Fulton-Montgomery Community College.
"The business community is very concerned about education," said Wally Hart, president of the Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "It is about jobs."
Hart said business leaders will be going to the legislators as well, and if they know what the educators are looking for, they will help. He was concerned that many people don't live in the area where they work because of the quality of education offered for their children.
Timbs pointed out that taxpayers, who have had the power to reject proposed school budgets, will now have the power to approve or reject any tax increase. If a school board presents a budget that requires a tax-levy increase greater than the limit, it would require approval by 60 percent of the voters. If the proposal is rejected twice, the tax levy would be capped at the prior year's levy, in effect a zero-growth tax cap.
For the 2011-12 school year, 435 New York school districts would have had to reduce their budget proposals under the 2 percent tax cap, according to Kremer. However, he said, 251 school budgets passed with a tax-levy increase over 2 percent by more than a 60 percent vote. He is concerned there will be organized opposition to budgets unless the public understands the effects on the students.
Wealthier districts, according to Kremer, will more easily garner override votes for their tax-levy increases. Taxpayers in those districts have the means to pay for non-mandated programs they want.
Barbara Cook covers rural Fulton and southern Hamilton counties. She can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com
