A big thank you to the Camp Avenue PTA for organizing a Q&A with Mr. McDaid and District to go over the proposed budget and permit the parents to ask questions via Zoom. We understand that HDF and OMR PTAS are also doing the same. A big thank you to Mr. McDaid for his informative presentation. If any resident has any questions on budget, please reach out to Mr. McDaid via email tmcdaid@nmerrick.org. CRONM does not envy Mr. McDaid’s herculean job for next year!
To view the Budget Presentation posted on the BOE website click below
To view the proposed final budget please click below
2020-2021 Final Proposed Budget
Residents asked really good questions. Here are important takeaways:
Budget is coming in under the tax cap. This means that the tax cap for 2020-2021 year will not be pierced if current budget is approved.
Total estimated revenue from our taxes for last years budget was $33,107,869. This year it is $34,178,656. That is a 3.23% increase from last year or $1,070,787.
Of the $34,178,656 figure, $25,186,919 is being spent on Programs. This the component that includes teacher salaries, instructional classes, music, art, wings, parent university, textbooks, special ed, supplies, art supplies, equipment, computers, science supplies ect.. This figure is up $1,225,292 or 5.11% from last year. This million dollar increase will not be used to create new programs but to cover rising healthcare, insurance and cover salaries.
None of the $1,070,787 increase in revenue is going to add new programs. Some of the increase is going to the capital improvements for the three schools. See proposed budget. Each school is going to get a capital improvement such as air conditioning, new windows, exterior upgrades, should budget pass. Remainder of the revenue increase will go to cover administrative and insurance costs.
We are a 3 school district with generally flat enrollment. CRONM continues to question why a three elementary school district requires 13% of our budget to be spent on Administrative Costs.
There will be no change in classroom size for any school for 2020-2021 School Year under the current proposed budget
Budget is being proposed and will pass with the issue of whether school aid will be cut still unanswered. Assuming that Cuomo does cut school aid, this will likely affect the 2021-2022 budget
A lot of residents asked how much money the district was saving with school being out all these months regarding, school trips, events, ect.. Per Dr. Seniak, despite schools being closed, the District was still required by law to pay all salaries. While there are anticipated savings, the figure had not yet been calculated. Apparently the lawyers for the school are trying to re negotiate paying the bus companies for April to present day. The million dollar question was assuming that there was some savings, will District consider using those savings to add new programs for the students? Per Mr. McDaid, any savings will be placed into reserves and there was no plan to add new programs for the 2020-2021 school year.
There was a question asked about District attempting to renegotiate trade and employment contracts in light of the current economic climate and an effort to avoid cutting programs or raising taxes for next year. Unfortunately, there was no clear cut answer to this question from Dr. Seniak. But the question does present a valid point. With the unemployment rate in NY reaching 1.4 million people and many of our resident affected by COVID-19 financially, why not consider renegotiating any previously entered trade or employment agreements as a proactive measure to save $$ for next year?
The lack of in person Board Election will NOT SAVE us any money. Per Dr. Seniak, last year the costs for the election was $23,000.00. This year, with the cost of printing and postage for the ballots, its $36,000.00. But this figure may be lower because this year we get to split the costs of the mailings with the North Merrick library and H.S. District. No one understood what this meant, despite Dr. Seniak explaining. We will revisit the actual cost for the Board election and report back
With the programs portion being almost 74% of the budget, what is the plan for the next 3-5 years in terms adding new program? Per Dr. Seniak, the plan is to adhere to the state mandates i.e. continue to provide gym. Art and Music are extras and are not part of the state mandate. Dr. Seniak does not want to see gym, art and music cut.
We are using $855,000 of our Savings, Reserves for this budget. Per Mr. McDaid, each year District does put back some of the monies it took out of reserves the year before. This year, District put back approximately $500,000.00. However that still leaves a $300,000 deficit.
District is spending $40,000 (down from $80,000 last year) on a PR Firm.
There are no planned retirements this year, but the State might consider providing incentives
If budget is not passed, one of the first things to be affected are the programs and our children; such as class size, WINGS, Class trips, Parent University ect.. The District, because of contractual obligations, will still need to pay all employment (teacher, administrative and CSCA) contracts entered into over the last couple of years. Capital projects will also be impacted.
There will be a district wide Budget Meeting on June 2, 2020. Be on look out for more information. Please plan on attending and staying informed!