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Southern Ulster Times , Wednesday , March 14 , 2018
Highland budget shows 4.99 % increase
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approved by the voters in May , would be the largest increase since the 2013-14 school year , which was a 6.5 percent hike .
Lynch said the new debt from the $ 17.5 million district building project has been structured in several ways .
“ Some of it was short term financing [ and ] this year has turned into longer term financing , which is known as serial bonds ,” she said .
Lynch said the increase in debt for the new buses is $ 128,269 but pointed out that the district will be receiving aid for these purchases . She said there is new debt payment of $ 1,494,168 because of the building project , for which state building aid is anticipated . She indicated that this debt is what is driving the 2018-19 budget .
Lynch said in the future the annual debt payment will change based on the amount of debt held by the district . She said the 2018-19 school year will be the first time paying debt on the $ 17.5 million building project . Although the project was approved in 2014 , the first borrowing of nearly $ 5.5 million was done in mid 2017 . A second borrowing of approximately $ 12 million will happen during the 2018-19 school year .
“ At this time we are projecting what the interest will be and what the principal will be ,” she said . “ I think it is pretty solid [$ 1.4 million ] but at this time it absolutely is an estimate .” After the borrowing is secured and calculations finalized , Lynch said the annual payments “ will be the same from the 2019-20 school year all the way on for the next fourteen years .” Lynch said “ once the building aid starts running that will also be relatively constant year to year .” She noted that building and transportation aid is relative to a district ’ s wealth and population . This aid money can be used to pay for construction costs .
Lynch said employee pension costs will increase next year by $ 125,323 and health insurance premiums are estimated to rise by $ 432,495 . She also noted an additional $ 43,033 in miscellaneous expenditures .
Lynch provided a slide to highlight factors that have influenced past budgets and tax levies . She said the NYS tax cap limits the growth of school property taxes to no more than 2 % of the Consumer Price Index [ CPI ], which is a measure of the variation in prices paid by typical consumers for retail goods and other items . For the 2013- 14 budget , the CPI was 2 %, and reached a low of 0.12 % in 2016-17 and a high of 1.62 % in 2015-16 . The 2017-18 budget came in at 1.26 % and she is expecting the cap for the 2018- 19 school year to return to 2 %. She said when the CPI is high “ the levy and the budget generally follow .”
For 2018-19 the amount to be collected in taxes stands at $ 28,000,464 , which is right at the tax cap limit of 2 %. The expected NYS Aid is $ 14,952,225 but Lynch said the district generally receives more after passage of the state budget in April and final tabulations are concluded .
Lynch said the district will also receive $ 540,000 in other revenues , “ which is interest , non-resident tuition , prior year refunds and federal medicaid .”
Lynch expects the board will apply $ 1.5 million from the appropriated fund balance as they have for the past two budget cycles . She pointed out that the district has only modest amounts in their reserve funds . She added that the district has not used any money of the Employee
Accrual or from the Debt Service .
Lynch said the proposed 2018-19 budget of $ 45,004,152 budget has an increase of $ 2,137,222 [ or 4.99 percent ] from the present school budget . She said the district is staying within the tax cap and is actually proposing a balanced budget . She explained that the maximum tax levy increase from last year that is allowed under the present 4.45 % tax cap is $ 1,193,211 . She reminded the board that the district will be receiving $ 14.9 million in state aid , which is actually an increase of $ 906,899 from last year and an additional $ 37,112 in other revenues . Adding these three figures comes to $ 2,137,222 , which is the exact amount of the increase that is proposed in the 2018-19 budget and meets the state tax cap provision .
Lynch acknowledged that these are higher budget numbers than the district has seen in recent years , due in part to growth in the CPI , some economic growth and the district dealing with $ 1.4 million in new debt . On the brighter side , she said an approved budget by the voters may mean that more state aid will be allotted to the district .
“ I ’ ve used very conservative numbers in the building aid [ for the construction ] because they can only get better ,” she said .
Superintendent Thomas Bongiovi said there is often talk of gloom and doom and making cuts that surrounds the development of a school budget .
“ We ’ re not saying that ; this maintains all positions and all programs [ but ] there are no new programs or positions in this budget . It maintains everything we have and it can only get better depending what comes down from the Governor ,” he said .
Board member Sue Gilmore concurred , saying “ this is too good , as Tom said no gloom and doom , this is wonderful .”
Barone was more cautious , pointing out that although there is no fiscal gap , meaning not enough revenue to meet expenditures , “ we have the largest budget increase in five years and that is a little concerning to me .”
Board member Mike Bakatsias believes the $ 1.49 million in new debt should not be pulled out of the two percent tax cap calculation but instead it should be included in the computations in order to give a more accurate overall fiscal picture . Barone added , “ that ’ s the formula , no way around it .”
Lynch said the district could “ grow programs ” if even more state aid were to be approved than expected or if the school board were to approve a budget increase higher than the 4.99 % that is presently proposed . She said historically Highland has had one of the lowest school budgets , if not the lowest , in Ulster County .
“ In light of past budgets I think we want to present a budget that can be adequately supported ,” she said .
Bakatsias said the district could grow programs by examining ways to reuse money more efficiently in the existing budget , by streamlining programs or by reviewing how budget items can be recaptured .
Superintendent Bongiovi said this is a “ good modest start in the budget process and I think we ’ re going in good directions .” He said there will be more revisions ahead in the next few weeks , but added , “ It ’ s not where you start , it ’ s where you finish .”
Police Blotter
Town of Lloyd
Diane Russell , 46 , of Montague , NJ was arrested March 11 and charged with Driving While Intoxicated and Ability Impaired by Drugs , Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th degree and Unlawful Possession of Marijuana after the vehicle she was operating was stopped for traffic violations on Rte . 9W in Highland . She was released on an appearance ticket and is due in Town Court March 29 .
Jacqueline Gregory , 53 , of Wawarsing , was arrested March 11 and charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th degree . She was released on an appearance ticket and is due in Town Court March 29 .
Koutenay E . Grillo-Barrington , 23 , of Highland , was arrested March 7 and charged with felony Driving While Intoxicated and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th degree after the vehicle she was operating was stopped on Milton Ave in Highland for traffic violations . She was released on an appearance ticket and is due in Town Court March 22 .
Chynna A . Green , 25 , of Poughkeepsie , was arrested March 10 and charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 3rd degree after the vehicle she was operating was stopped on Rte . 9W in Highland for traffic violations . She was released on tickets and is due in Town Court March 29 .
Town of Marlborough
Davon Brooks , 19 , of New Windsor was arrested March 3 and charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle and Operation of a Motor Vehicle Without Inspection . Brooks was released on his own recognizance and is due in Town Court March 20 .
Leonardo Reyes , 49 , of Marlboro , was arrested March 6 and charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 1:10 / More Suspensions – 10 / More Dates . He was arraigned March 6 and released on his own recognizance . He is due in Town Court March 20 .
Nicholas W . Belding , 21 , of Hyde Park , was arrested March 8 and charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of Motor Vehicle and Failure to Use Designated Lane . Belding was released on his own recognizance and is due in Town Court March 28 .
State Police at Highland
On March 9 , State Police Highland arrested Tanaya Scott , 21 , of Kingston , for DWI . She was traveling on State Route 299 in the town of New Paltz when she was stopped for a vehicle and traffic law violation . Troops said she was impaired by alcohol and was subsequently arrested .
On March 10 , 2018 , State Police Highland arrested Daniel Rosado , 21 , of Poughkeepsie , NY for DWI . He was traveling on State Route 299 in the town of New Paltz when he was stopped for a vehicle and traffic law violation . Troopers said he was impaired by alcohol and was subsequently arrested .