Proposed for BKW tax levy increase



BERNE — As school officials and a committee work to design a budget for the 2008-09 school year, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School Board was divided this week over setting goals for the plan.

On Monday, school board member Helen Lounsbury moved that the board set a 0-percent tax-levy increase and a budget increase not to exceed 3 percent as a guideline for budgeting.
"Many people in the community are putting money aside — at least $100 a week — to pay their school and property tax," Lounsbury said.

A lengthy discussion followed, and, in a 3-2 vote, the school board decided against Lounsbury’s motion. School board President Maureen Sikule and Lounsbury were in favor. Vice President John Harlow and Joan Adriance were opposed. The deciding vote came down to Michelle Fusco, who voted against. Fusco is serving on BKW’s budget advisory committee.

Last spring, BKW voters passed a $19 million budget, the second year in a row that the budget has passed on the first try.

The current school tax rates are as follows:

— Berne, $26.86;
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— Knox, $29.30;
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— New Scotland, $16.96;
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— Rensselaerville, $29.57;
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— Westerlo, $1,941.73;
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— Middleburgh, $24.05; and
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— Wright, $20.66.
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Westerlo’s rate is high because its assessments are low; the town has not revalued property since 1955.

During Monday’s discussion, Timothy Holmes, BKW’s newly-hired business administrator, outlined some projections for the 2008-09 school year. He said his personal goal is to keep the increase in the tax levy — the amount to be raised from taxes — under 4 percent. Holmes said he did not know if having no increase in the tax levy would be possible.
"Tim has made it clear to us that, at this point, he doesn’t feel the need for a board goal," said Fusco. "I’m not against making a board goal in the future. I just prefer to take Tim’s recommendation at this point."

Once a district that had difficulty passing its budgets, BKW’s budget last year was passed by 66 percent of the voters.

The school board approves a spending plan that will be voted on by the district’s voters on this year on May 20. If a budget is defeated, a school district can do one of three things — put the same budget up for a second vote, put a reduced budget up for a vote, or move directly to a contingency plan, with a state-set cap. A second budget defeat requires the district to go to a contingency plan.

A budget advisory committee has been appointed by the school board. It had met prior to Monday’s meeting and consists of BKW Superintendent Steven Schrade, Holmes, Fusco and Lounsbury, two former school board members — Edward Ackroyd of Knox and Berne Councilman Joseph Golden — and Sean O’Connor, a financial advisor from Westerlo. Golden, a retired teacher, is Lounsbury’s brother. Ackroyd owns his own business.

The committee will meet again next Thursday.

Clashing views
"As I understood from sitting in on these meetings, this is possible," Lounsbury said.
"We’re not talking about a slashing of the budget," said Golden. "We’re talking about a reduction in the rate of increase. So that’s very different," he said. "I don’t want people to think that somebody on the committee is proposing that we start to slash because that’s not what we’re talking about."
At an earlier school-board meeting, Golden read from an "Old Men of the Mountain" column in The Enterprise to underline the difficulty some Hilltown households have in meeting expenses.
Golden said Monday, "If you were, somehow, through this process, to be able to even cut 1 percent, that’s $200,000.
"I don’t know what that would reflect," he said. "I’m aiming toward a zero. I don’t know if we could ever get there."
"I, personally, am not comfortable with zero as a guideline," said Adriance. "I need more information. I don’t have the information to make that commitment...We’ve gone over one piece of this. I don’t even know what that means in real dollars," she said.
"Why would I pick a number now with no information and no understanding" Why" What am I going to gain"" Harlow asked. "Let’s get the information. We’ve got to find out what the fixed expenses are, how much they’re going to increase. The ones that we can control, we’ll try to do as much as we can to push them down and come up with a number. And that number represents a levelness that...we’re not taking away from the school. We’re just maintaining it. But you’re projecting the number based on nothing."
Ackroyd said the committee is looking for the board’s input and suggestions "on where they want it to be." "Having sat on the board before," he said, "there was always a percentage goal set."
"I think it is premature to give you that number," said Harlow.
"I think we should build the budget and then compare them to the revenues...," Holmes said.
"Remember, 1 percent equals $96,000," he said. "If the levy should be up 2 percent, we’re going to have to cut [$192,000]. That’s a lot to cut," said Holmes. "Our goal here is to keep it under 4 percent if we can, in terms of the tax levy. That’s my personal goal. I don’t think we should go over 4 percent. Hopefully, we won’t. I want to keep that as low as possible. I’d love to [have a 0-percent tax levy increase], but I don’t know."
"We have a wish list," said Lounsbury. "I guess maybe I’m too simple in terms of the money. I think of it in terms of our households."

Lounsbury spoke hypothetically.
"We have a budget," she said. "We know how much it is so maybe I’m dropping HBO or my cable service. I’m cutting back to live within my budget because our fuel is increasing; other things are increasing," she said.
"And, I think, in these hard economic times, which I believe they are for many, many individuals," Lounsbury said, "that we need to be fiscally responsible and we need to set boundaries."
"There’s a foundation difference between your concepts and my concepts," said Harlow. "What we need to do is educate our community’s children to a standard that makes them good citizens in the world and able to compete in the world. And this is a tough world. There are some people out there that’ll work 24 hours a day to try to beat an American," he said. "And I would like our kids to have an education so they can compete. And I think that’s what we owe the community. I don’t think that we owe the community the concept that we’re going to significantly decrease their taxes because we ain’t going to do it," he said. A lot of the budget expenses, which drive up the taxes, he said, come from state mandates "where we have, and are obligated by law, to pay for certain things.
"And that’s it. It’s over," said Harlow. "I will, myself, not hurt the school, not compromise the children’s education, so that I can not give up HBO," he said.
"I believe we are offering a fine program, period, and I don’t think we would be compromising the children’s education," said Lounsbury.
"Based on what"" asked Harlow.
"Based on the projected state aid and other things that I’ve heard at the meetings, and I just think that we can do that," said Lounsbury.
"But our business administrator said he doesn’t know the answer to that question yet," said Harlow.
"Things are moving along so fast," said Fusco. "We may be giving a quality education right now, but two or three years from now, we may be behind."
Harlow defined the board’s goal by asking a question: "What do we want the school to be and what do we want our students to have""
Golden said, "We’re working with something that’s really not measurable...the quality of education."

Lounsbury cited BKW’s building project to renovate the schools, which was approved by the district’s voters this year.
"This is automatically going to be increasing our taxes," she said. "As our building gets on-line, when we start building it, and all of that comes together, it’s going to cost more to run this district. Has to. So I’m thinking that we have to be fiscally responsible at this time. I think we owe it to the community," said Lounsbury.
"And you think anything above zero percent is not fiscally responsible"" Adriance asked.
"Zero percent tax levy. Three percent increase," Lounsbury said.
Mark Huth, a former school board member and former Berne councilman, said, "A lot of what I finally heard I wholeheartedly support having to do with the budget. I’m one of those people who’s retired and on a fixed income, and, I’ve got to tell you, there is a finite amount of money available to run the school."
Huth said he knows how difficult it is to meet the state mandates while providing "a really quality program."
"But I would whole-heartedly encourage the board to give some guidance to the committee that’s wrestling with the details of this budget. You’re the people we elected and you need to be kind of taking the lead on this and the committee, I would think, would be the people who fight through the details to try to come up with the parts that satisfy the goals you set, but, at some point, you really need to set a goal.
"I feel encouraged that the discussion is going on," said Huth. "I’m not happy with the way it ended, but I feel encouraged that it’s happening."