In First Budget Presentation, Supe Warns of Difficult Decisions Ahead

In the first of six presentations breaking down the proposed 2012-2013 school budget, Superintendent Nancy Carney broke the difficult, though not unexpected, news that cuts in the coming school year are going to play a role in the future of the Riverhead Central School District.

At Tuesday's School Board meeting - which consisted only of the presentation - Carney said that savings are expected to be made in making the middle school day shorter by one period, restructuring the STAR Academy, reducing staff, and re-organizing transportation.

In total, over $3 million will need to be cut, which Carney .

"We can't keep coming in under the tax levy and expect things to be the same," Carney said to the school board, and crowd of about 15. "It's not going to occur. Things have to change."

On Tuesday night, Carney detailed the proposed changes in mostly administrative and financial occurrings. General support - which entails the Board of Education, central administration, auditing, and other line items - as well as debt service and benefits were discussed.

Carney's proposed budget calls for a 5 percent drop in general support costs - falling from $4 million to $3.77 million - aided in large part from a mandate lifted at the state level, exempting school districts of the controversial MTA Payroll Tax. That mandate will save the district $217,000, though other unfunded mandates remain.

A 12 percent increase in school benefits is proposed - jumping $3 million to $27.8 million - a result mostly of a mandated increase in employee retirement payments. According to numbers provided by the superintendent, the percentage of employer contribution for teacher retirement is also at its highest since the late 1980s, coming in at 12 percent of the overall cost.

While the district is expected to present a budget to the public that does stay under the two percent tax levy cap - Carney listed it as the Board of Education's number one goal - roughly $325,000 in employee retirement costs are considered exempt under state law. Therefore, the district could technically present a budget with a levy increase over two percent and remain in complaince with the tax levy law. In addition to some pension costs, capital improvements are also exempt from calculation into the law.

A 33 percent jump in unemployment insurance payment is expected next year, as the district has had to lay off employees in recent years due to budget restructions. Last year,  Carney said on Tuesday that staff will be notified as soon as next week if they are proposed to be laid off next year.

"In keeping the integrity of the programs in place, as difficult and painful as that is, there is nothing more difficult for any of us here than letting people go," Carney said. "But in the times we are in, those are the difficult decisions we have to make. This is where we are."

The district is also still making debt payments on bonds taken out in 1999, though debt service on those is dropping off, from $2.6 million last year to $1.8 million this year to a proposed $1.3 million next year. Bond payments on a don't begin until the following school year, in 2013-2014.

While last year, offering a complete budget picture at different schools, this year she will be detailing smaller parts of the budget at separate meetings, all at the high school. The next meeting is Feb. 15, where she will discuss facilities, security, and transportation costs. A complete schedule of the budget presentations can be found on the school website.

The public will vote on the budget on May 15.