North Shore Sun

JENNIFER GUSTAVSON PHOTO

Even with last year's proposed 27 percent tax increase still fresh on the mind in the Shoreham-Wading River community, its Board of Education said Tuesday that Governor David Paterson's cuts to state aid could result in higher taxes again next school year.

The governor's proposed budget would reduce state aid to the district by almost $600,000 and that reduction, Superintendent Harriet Copel said, "means a tax increase."

"Now we are well aware of the financial burden caused by last year's tax increase," Dr. Copel saud. "We are diligently working to ensure that those kinds of increases don't occur again."

She said the budget also includes an allocation for prior year state aid the district is owed.

"If the budget doesn't change -- and the rules for allocation of prior year state aid don't change -- then the district is entitled to $6 million," Dr. Copel said. "We have to pay off some revenue anticipation notes that we borrowed, which comes to $4 million. That leaves $2 million and that could be available to offset the tax increase."

However, nothing will be final until the state budget is adopted by legislators in April, she said.

A 4.7 percent, or $2.8 million, increase in expenditures would be required if the district decided to maintain the programs it currently has, administrators said.

"That results largely from existing contracts, rising health care costs, pension costs and other state and federal mandates," Dr. Copel said. "That presents a larger tax increase than may be acceptable. We don't know that yet and we're working on calculating all of that. We haven't proposed a budget yet -- we're working on it."

As for the possibility of another contingency budget, the minimal budget required by law, it needs to have a zero percent increase in expenditures next year, she said.

"So that means that if there's a failed budget this year, there will be a budget next year without any increase whatsoever," she said. "That means that we would be cutting $2.8 million from the current budget ... That's a tremendous amount of money. And that has a very significant impact on all of our programs."

Shoreham-Wading River's spending plan has been voted down the first time around in nine of the past 20 years. The district is currently operating on a contingency budget.

jennifer@northshoresun.com