For the Express
BROADALBIN — “We’re facing the most dramatic hit on education in Broadalbin-Perth that we’ve ever faced.”
That was the bleak financial picture painted by Broadalbin-Perth School District Superintendent Stephen Tomlinson at Monday night’s board of education meeting.
Though the budget process is still only its preliminary stages, Tomlinson said the figures obtained from a draft of a roll-over budget combined with a decrease in state aid funding indicate that the district is in the position of having to choose between drastic cuts in programs and staff or a potential override of the tax cap.
The drafting of a roll-over budget is the first step in the process. It assumes no cuts in services and programs and no tax increase and factors in maximum increases in contractual services and energy costs.
Though Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced a 4 percent increase in state aid to education, the Broadalbin-Perth school district is actually projected to lose nearly $161,000 in state funding as a result of last year’s budget cuts. The school aid formula dictates that the less money a district spends on programs and services eligible for state aid, the less money the state will provide them the following year.
Accounting for the reduction in state aid, and assuming a 3.5 percent tax cap (the projected district limit under the tax cap formula), Tomlinson said the district may be looking at an approximately $2.4 million budget gap.
“You’re going to see a lot of stuff come out between now and budget time. It’s my job to provide you with the information,” said Tomlinson. “The one thing I do know is that there will be cuts this year, unlike any cuts this community has seen ever.”
Throughout the course of the meeting, the board struggled with how to present the budget to Broadalbin-Perth voters in a manner that would provide them a clear picture of the financial situation and help them fully understand the magnitude of the cuts the community is facing.
“It’s not gonna be a question of do we do it, or do we not do it,” said Board of Education President Edward Szumowski. “It’s gonna be a question of how do we communicate it to the public and get the budget passed.”
“I’ve witnessed, here, budgets be defeated because people didn’t like the amount of what was cut,” said Tomlinson. “We’re going to see more emotions this year than we’ve ever seen in my time.”
Whether to exceed the tax cap, said Tomlinson, is a decision that should come from the community.
“We need to know that we have 1,500 people or 1,400 people who are willing to say, in advance, that we’ll support that before we come up with a budget that’s over the cap,” said Tomlinson. “This board of education should not be bringing to the public the proposition to go over the tax cap. It should be brought to you by a large number of people.”
The meeting began with the presentation of the district’s recently completed Buildings Conditions Survey and Five-year Capital Plan, which listed roofs that are in need of either repair or replacement in several locations and designates the project a priority.
While the board struggled with justifying what could potentially total a multi-million dollar bond for building improvements, Tomlinson said he believes such things must be considered in the interest of efficiency and could amount to saving the district future repair bills.
“One of the things that’s evident in that spreadsheet is that we have to make a decision sooner rather than later because we have roofing that’s been compromised,” said Tomlinson.
Reorganizing the schools, bringing the elementary schools together on a singe campus and the secondary schools together on a second campus will eliminate inefficiencies, said Tomlinson. District officials are currently in the process of developing a specific cost analysis of the reorganization plan.
“It will cost the district money to have this done,” Tomlinson said, referring to the energy-saving proposals being considered, “but it saves a lot in the long run.”