With tax cap, school district wonders about ripple effects

PINE PLAINS — More multi-year projections were given at the Wednesday, March 16, Pine Plains Central School District Board of Education (BOE) meeting, as administrators looked to hammer home the idea that, especially while a property tax cap bill looms in the state Assembly, the proposed budget the board adopts next month will have significant consequences for the years to come.At the board’s request, Superintendent Linda Kaumeyer presented an updated version of a three-year projection of possible school budgets, given the assumption of a bill that would cap the amount that property taxes could increase in a given year by 2 percent.Although the bill has not passed, the most up-to-date information indicates that even if it were passed soon it would probably not take effect until the 2012-13 school year.The most current budget draft coming out of the superintendent’s office represents a 3.996 percent budget-to-budget increase from last year. Under that proposal, the estimated tax levy increase would be 5.396 percent. Last year’s tax levy increase was 7.89 percent, and it only passed by seven votes, at 502 to 495.But following the budget projection numbers given at the meeting, the district would be hit by both the tax cap requirements as well as the loss of nearly $400,000 of federal aid. Assuming that there was no loss in state aid between the two years, the budget-to-budget increase would at maximum be less than a tenth of 1 percent, .007 percent (about $20,000).After that initial drop, the 2013-14 year would be a little easier for the district. Again assuming no change in state aid, the budget could increase by around $420,000 (or about 1.5 percent) while still staying below the 2 percent tax cap.Kaumeyer pointed out that while the district has been very proactive about paying off interest on debt, as well as avoiding borrowing money to purchase buses for the last two years, it may have to think about taking on some of that debt as the budget tightens in years to come.She also pointed out that although the initial reaction to the budget crisis might be to trim the budget now, the implications of the tax cap would mean that the less money in the 2011-12 budget, the tighter the district would have to squeeze to stay under 2 percent the following year.“We’ve worked very hard to reduce the school district’s budget over the years through attrition, including cuts totalling over $900,000 last year,” Kaumeyer pointed out, “without laying anyone off. But if this becomes a reality, there will come a day when that may have to happen.”