Budget Questions and Answers

Click on the questions below to read the answer. 

• What does the proposed spending plan look like?

• If the budget reduces spending, why is the tax levy increasing?

• I thought there was a 2% tax cap. How can the proposed tax levy increase be 6.8%?

• Why are we losing PILOT revenue?

• What would the tax levy increase mean for my tax bill?

• How does RCS control costs?

• Why aren’t there deeper cuts in the proposed budget?

• What cuts are included?

• What does the proposed budget preserve?

• How will the STAR program affect my school taxes?

• What if the budget doesn’t pass?

• What else will I be voting on?

• Who is eligible to vote?

• Where and when can I vote?  

Q: What does the proposed spending plan look like?

The proposed budget presents a $41,729,185 spending plan for the 2012-13 school year. The budget reduces spending by $708,681, or 1.7 percent, from the current school year and would increase the tax levy by 6.8 percent.

Q: If the budget reduces spending, why is the tax levy increasing?

A: The tax levy is the total amount of taxes raised to fund the school budget after state aid and other revenues are taken into account. Over the last two years the district has benefited from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) fund. These funds, designed to save jobs, have reached their predetermined end. State aid, which has been consistently declining for years, has decreased by $289,420 for the 2012-13 school year. In addition, RCS will lose $1,274,748 from the termination of a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement between Selkirk Cogen natural gas plant and the Town of Bethlehem. Together these revenue losses total $2,339,972.

Rising contractual and operational costs compound the loss in revenue. Rolling over all expenses from the current school year at 2012-13 costs, the district faced a budget gap of approximately $3 million.

The district can make up this loss of revenue and close the budget gap in three ways: by making budget reductions, allocating money from fund balance or increasing the tax levy. In developing the 2012-13 budget, the district implemented all three strategies. The proposed budget includes more than $1.6 million in budget reductions, the allocation of $750,000 of fund balance and a tax levy increase of 6.8 percent, or $1,565,791.

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Q: I thought there was a 2% tax cap. How can the proposed tax levy increase be 6.8%?

A: The new “tax cap” law establishes a tax levy limit, not a tax cap. The tax levy limit, which is determined by a calculation outlined in law and varies by district, is a threshold that determines what level of voter support is needed to pass a budget. If a district’s tax levy increase is within the threshold, a simple majority (50 percent plus one vote) is needed. If a district’s tax levy increase exceeds the threshold, 60 percent voter approval is required.

The formula used to calculate the tax levy limit allows for certain exclusions, including a change in PILOT revenue. For RCS, the formula allows the district to raise the levy by up to 8.6 percent to compensate for the loss of revenue from COGEN without requiring supermajority support.

While RCS’ tax levy limit is 8.6 percent, the district recognizes the financial challenges facing taxpayers. The board has proposed a budget that decreases spending and raises the tax levy less than the state limit allows.

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Q: Why are we losing PILOT revenue? 

A: The 20-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement between Selkirk Cogen natural gas plant and the Town of Bethlehem ends in December 2012. The district will receive a final payment from Cogen in November 2012, covering the first half of the 2012-13 school year. However, RCS will not receive a second payment in February, because the PILOT will no longer be in effect. In 2012-13, RCS will receive only half of the revenue it has received from Cogen for the last 20 years, a loss of $1,274,748. Following the termination of the PILOT agreement, Cogen will be added to the town’s tax roll, but its first tax payment will not occur until the 2013-14.  

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Q. What would the tax levy increase mean for my tax bill?

A.

The proposed budget for the 2012-13 school year would raise the tax levy--the total amount of property taxes collected by the district--by 6.8 percent. Many RCS taxpayers have asked how a 6.8 percent tax levy increase would impact their individual tax bills.

The following charts provide the estimated impact on taxpayers in each of the four towns within the RCS School District. Both tax rates and dollar increases are estimates, since assessed values and equalization rates will not be finalized by the towns until August.

Our best estimates at this time indicate an annual tax bill increase of $42-$70 in New Baltimore, $90-$131 in New Scotland, $198-$234 in Bethlehem and $244-$283 in Coyemans—a monthly increase of between $4 and $24 district-wide. For more information on how these estimates were calculated and how town tax rates and individual tax bills are determined,  please read below.

While 2012-13 tax rates will reflect the loss of $1,274,748 in PILOT revenue from Selkirk Cogen natural gas plant, taxpayers can anticipate some relief in their tax rates in subsequent years, after Seklirk Cogen is added back to the tax rolls in 2012-13.

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Q. How does RCS control costs?

A. The Board of Education and administration are mindful of their responsibility to ensure education remains affordable for district taxpayers. The district has taken many steps to maximize savings and efficiency throughout the last few years. Since implementing the energy program in February 2006, RCS has realized savings of over $2.2 million on energy costs and reduced energy consumption by more than 30 percent.

The district participates in a health insurance consortium to save on premiums and a workers compensation consortium, which saves an estimated $100,000 per year. Most recently, the district refinanced its debt, saving an additional $680,000 over seven years. And to ensure the best prices on products and services, the district makes purchases through cooperative arrangements with Capital Region BOCES and the state.

Over the past four years, the Consumer Price Index in New York, which is used to identify the average cost-of-living increase, has increased by 2 percent. District spending, however, has reduced by 0.1 percent, despite rising operational costs and losses in state and federal aid. This four-year spending decrease reflects the district’s aim to maximize program while minimizing cost.

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Q. Why aren’t there deeper cuts in the proposed budget?

A: The challenge in cutting school expenses in 2012-13 budget is due in part to the significant reductions the district has already made. Over the last two years, the district eliminated 56 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, as well as two bus runs and some club and intramural sports offerings. Since 2010, the district has also made spending reductions in energy, technology, transportation, field trips, operations and maintenance, building and classroom supplies and professional development.

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Q: What cuts are included?

A: In an effort to reduce the burden on district taxpayers, the district identified more than $1.6 in budget reductions, including the establishment of self-funded insurance programs, which will result in more than $400,000 in savings, and the relocation of the district office to the school campus, for a five-year savings of $100,000.

Further reductions include the elimination of eight student slots in the BOCES Career and Technical Education program and three slots in the BOCES New Visions program. These opportunities will remain, but fewer students will be able to participate. The creation of an in-house special education class will return six students to RCS from costly out-of-district placements, generating $200,000 in savings.
Staff reductions include one bus dispatcher, one bus aide, and one elementary teacher, a position which will be lost through attrition.

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Q: What does the proposed budget preserve?

A: In developing the proposed budget, the district sought to identify spending reductions that would result in the least impact to our students. The proposed budget maintains class sizes at current levels, limits staffing cuts and preserves the educational, extracurricular and athletic opportunities we currently provide, including a broad selection of AP and elective courses, arts programming, student club and sports offerings, enrichment opportunities and academic and emotional support services.

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Q. How will the STAR program affect my school taxes?

A: New York State’s School Tax Relief (STAR) Program provides property tax exemptions (also known as homestead exemptions) for New York homeowners. Basic STAR is available to anyone who owns and lives in his or her own home and earns less than $500,000. Enhanced STAR is available to senior homeowners whose incomes do not exceed $79,050. Applications must be filed with your town assessor’s office and must be renewed annually.

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Q: What if the budget doesn’t pass?

A: School boards across New York will put budget proposals up for a vote on May 15. If the budget is defeated, a school board has three options:

• put the same budget up for a second vote,

• put a revised budget up for a vote,

• adopt a contingent budget with a zero percent tax levy increase

If the budget vote is defeated twice, a school board must adopt a contingent budget.

For the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Board of Education, adopting a contingent budget for 2012-13 would mean reducing the proposed budget, which is already a 1.7 percent decrease in spending from the current year, by another $1,565,791. The board has already identified $1,675,600 in budget reductions and revenue increases to achieve the proposed budget; a contingent budget would bring the total amount of necessary reductions to more than $3.2 million.

This scenario reflects changing rules for contingency budgets under the new tax levy limit legislation. Under the new legislation, districts adopting a contingent budget must now meet a zero-percent taxy levy increase. Despite rising operational and contractual costs, the new conditions for a contingent budget would require RCS to decrease overall spending by 5.4 percent.

“Were the district to cut more than $3 million from the 2012-13 budget, the level of staffing cuts that would be required would make it difficult for RCS to provide the curriculum and services that are mandated by the state and federal government,” says Superintendent of Schools Elisabeth Smith.

Additional budget reductions under consideration to meet the requirements for a contingent budget include the elimination of more than 17 FTE positions, including 11 teachers and four school counselors and social workers, which would result in a significant increase in class size and loss of program offerings. In addition, the district would likely eliminate JV and modified sports, and make deep cuts to clubs district-wide, including homework club at both the Middle and Elementary schools. Elimination of bus runs, reductions in bus stops, return to half-day kindergarten, the closing of the pool and the closing of an elementary school would also be under consideration.

A contingent budget for the 2012-13 school year also would impact the district’s ability to restore programming in the future. The state formula used to calculate each district’s tax levy limit is based on the district’s current tax levy, a base which the adoption of a contingent budget would significantly reduce, limiting the district’s ability to generate revenue in the future.

Since the 2012-13 exemption for the loss of revenue from Selkirk Cogen will no longer be factored into the formula in subsequent years, the tax levy limit for RCS will be more restrictive. It is uncertain if the maximum allowable tax levy in future years will cover increases in operational and contractual expenses. It is unlikely it would be sufficient to restore cuts to staff and programming.
“Though we face a challenging and uncertain budget landscape,” says Superintendent Smith, “it remains our aim to provide education as affordably and efficiently as possible for our community today—and to sustain a comprehensive and enriching educational program that will develop our students as leaders for tomorrow.”

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Q: What else will I be voting on?

A: In addition to voting on the proposed 2012-13 school year budget on May 15, voters will elect four candidates to the board of education. Learn more about the Board of Education candidates here. Voters will also decide on a special bus proposition for the purchase of of two leased 65-passenger propane school buses, the purchase of one 65-passenger propane bus and one Suburban.

The district would receive state aid reimbursement for 69 percent of the costs of purchase and an estimated $2,600 from the sale of two fleet buses, bringing the net total cost for taxpayers for the four vehicles to $110,000, or $22,000 annually over the course of five years.

Due to the high cost of maintaining older buses, the replacement of the oldest bus in the fleet would result in a savings for the 2012-13 school year. 

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Q: Who is eligible to vote?

A: To vote, you must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen and a resident of the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District for at least 30 days prior to May 15. You do NOT need to be registered to vote with the Board of Elections, but must present a valid photo I.D. and register with the district at the polls.

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Q: Where and when can I vote?

Polls will be open on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the RCS High School gymnasium, 2025 Route 9W, Ravena. Absentee ballot applications and information is available here for residents who cannot make it to the polls.

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