Schools

Riverhead Board of Education Slated to Vote on $111.7 Million Budget

Riverhead School Superintendent Nancy Carney said budget process was "very challenging."

The Riverhead Board of Education will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night to vote to adopt a proposed $111.7 million budget for the 2012-2013 school year. 

The meeting will take place at the Riverhead High School auditorium. The public will vote on the budget on May 15.

On Tuesday morning, Superintendent Nancy Carney said the budget process has been "very challenging. The board of education and our administration worked very hard to try and preserve programs for kids and make cuts throughout the budget that would be fiscally responsible and less damaging for students."

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When the dust settled, Carney said some members of the staff had to be let go. "It was very tough," she said.

Initially, Carney said, were expected to receive pink slips but with an increase in state aid, that number decreased, she said Tuesday.

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Although the statewide tax levy cap is imposed at 2 percent, due to variables at the Riverhead Central School District, the tax levy increase is 1.74 percent. "We created a very responsible budget," Carney said. "We worked very hard to keep programs intact."

Carney warned in early March that if the Board of Education presented a budget that pierced the tax levy cap, and failed to get 60 percent of the vote required to pass it - and then failed on a re-vote of a revised budget - running on a zero percent, year-over-year, budget would mean cutting at least another $2.5 million, she said.

"If the budget doesn't pass, we will have to cut an additional $2.5 to $3 million," she said. "Running on a zero budget is something we don't even want to have to think about because it would be so devastating."

In a letter to the public on the district's website, Carney said the district faced challenges under the looming New York State imposed 2 percent tax levy cap, but committed not to pierce the cap.

According to Carney, if the district had taken the current year's budget and adjusted it for the coming year's costs, preserving all current programs, the "levy needs would rise by approimately $5 million."

In order to comply with the new tax cap formula, approximately $3.2 million needed to be slashed from the district's budget for the coming year.

"The cuts have not yet been finalized, but each one is difficult and not taken lightly," Carney wrote in her letter to the public.

Carney added that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo's recent proposed increase in state aid to school districts was "certainly welcome," but said the proposal shifted costs to school districts currently shouldered by the state.  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here