Bedford School Officials to Decide How to Close $3.3M Budget Hole This Week
Bedford school trustees must decide this week how they are going to close a $3.3 million budget deficit that threatens deeper staff reductions and possibly a larger tax increase than originally planned.
During the Board of Education’s marathon live-streamed meeting last Wednesday evening on the district’s proposed $138.9 million spending plan, school officials grappled with whether to levy the maximum amount of taxes allowed under the state’s tax cap as growing numbers of residents face financial uncertainty and how much projected surplus should be used.
District officials have forecast a $1,924,747 surplus for the current year, operational expenses saved as a result of the state-ordered shuttering of all schools from mid-March through the end of June. In order to maintain the initial 2.02 percent tax levy increase, instead of going to the 2.69 percent ceiling, the district would have to use nearly $1.7 million of that surplus.
Another option is to levy the maximum tax but use only about $900,000 of surplus, which would tack on an average additional increase of $100 for Bedford taxpayers’ bills, $99 more for Pound Ridge residents and about $54 more for Mount Kisco residents.
With the possibility of unexpected expenses next year should schools re-open, because of the likelihood for social distancing requirements and increased health insurance, some trustees argued that it would be unwise to use $1.7 million toward plugging the gap. That is also money the board would need to find in 2021 to balance the subsequent year’s budget.
Board Vice President Edward Reder said he opposed both choices, urging his colleagues and the administration to find other savings. The district has also included $350,000 from fund balance in the proposed budget, which stood at $5,542,000 at the close of the 2018-19 school year.
“You will regret going below the tax cap,” Reder said. “You’ll never get that money back and you’ll regret using fund balance for your budget. You’ll never get it back and I don’t think it’s the right course of action.”
Factored into the difficult decision is the district’s assumption that 20 percent of its just over $8 million in state aid will be cut, warnings that have been sent by Gov. Andrew Cuomo should the federal government fail to reimburse states because of the coronavirus-fueled economic shutdown.
It also does not touch the $2.55 million in transportation savings that will be realized over the final three months of the school year. However, the district’s transportation provider is threatening legal action, arguing that its drivers should be paid.
Regardless of what the board settles on this week, Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joel Adelberg and Assistant Superintendent for Business and Administrative Services Cynthia Hawthorne last week presented the board with another 13.4 full-time equivalent positions to be cut, saving the district $1,639,301.
Adelberg said the additional cuts, on top of the reductions of more than seven full-time equivalent positions, are manageable. In his original proposal, four elementary school teachers, 1.6 secondary level teaching positions and a pair of one-on-one aides were cut.
The latest round of reductions would see two full-time special education positions; 1.4 English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); one elementary school tier support; two elementary teachers; three middle school teachers; one high school teachers; two support staff members; and one full-time specials position cut.
“Can we live with these? Yes,” Adelberg said. “Did I wish that we didn’t have to do any of these? Absolutely. Are there some cuts that are going to hurt even more? We’ll make it work.”
Board President Colette Dow said if the board does use fund balance, she didn’t want to go anywhere near the $1.7 million.
“I am so opposed to using fund balance to fund next year’s operations. You guys know that,” she said. “You know that’s ingrained in me. I am understanding of the fact that if there is a time to use that tool, that this could be one of those times, but not to the tune of funding $1.7 million.”
Trustee John Boucher said with the additional cuts proposed there’s no more the district can take without it having a negative effect on students and programs.
“I think next year’s operations are something we have taken a knife to and have gotten it down as low as we think we can get at this point,” Boucher said. “While I don’t believe it’s prudent to be using fund balance to fund a structural deficit, as I’ve said in the past, I also think that in this current environment that we’re in it could be prudent to use some fund balance to use next year.”
The board has scheduled virtual meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. to discuss the issue. The spending plan must be adopted by Wednesday for the rescheduled June 9 budget vote and school board elections.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/