New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released his executive budget proposal last week, including public school aid estimates. If the numbers hold, the KCSD is in for an increase of 11.31 percent.
That figure would increase the district’s overall aid amount for 2017-18 by $6,578,119, potentially good news with the state comptroller’s office last week setting the statewide school property tax levy cap at 1.26 percent. A property tax increase beyond that percentage would require budget approval by a supermajority of 60 percent or greater at the polls. The tax levy cap is lower than the 3.37 percent allowed a year ago.
At present few details are known about the aid runs outside of a short list of line items. Of those, the district’s greatest increase came from a building and building reorganization incentive, a figure set at $7,080,259 on the 2017-18 proposal, up $4,567,017 from a year ago. According to the New York State Education Department website, the building incentive is for capital outlay, leases, certain capital outlay exceptions, certain refinancing costs and an assumed debt service payment based on the useful life of the project. Current statutes provide that school districts may also receive partial reimbursement for base year expenditures associated with security camera, metal detectors and other security devices, for approved testing and remediation costs related to lead testing in drinking water, and for building condition survey expenditures.
Without the building line, the district’s projected increase was actually only closer to 3.61 percent.
While the district began hosting budget discussions for 2017-18 last September, they’re next due to discuss projections at a meeting of the Board of Education scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 1. The district is scheduled to hold a budget hearing on Wednesday, May 3.
The district’s $161.6 million budget was approved by voters last year, increasing the local property tax levy by 1.98 percent.
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