Warwick School Board offers preview of proposed budget
By Abby Wolf
WARWICK — The Warwick Valley School Board presented another look at the proposed 2016-17 school budget at its work session on Monday evening.
The proposed $88,571,696 budget reflects generally slight across-the-board increases (with the exception of benefits, which actually decreased by about $75,000) from the current year’s budget of $86,276,277.
Much, of course, depends on the amount of school aid that comes from New York State. The Legislature is expected to release its budget on March 31, which, according to Assistant Superintendent for Business Tim Holmes, may include restoration of funds that were cut under the Gap Elimination Adjustment.
Until that figure is certain, the district is currently facing a shortfall of $431,293.
The next largest item is benefits, at $19,854,788 making up more than 22 per cent (it was $19,929,777 for the current year).
The third greatest slice of the budget goes to BOCES, at nearly 14 per cent, or about $12.3 million. The BOCES number is in flux until about the end of February. Holmes said that this number “looks fairly decent so far.”
The district says the tax cap will increase slightly, from $58,479,771 to $58,724,817, or .418 per cent.
The greatest source of revenue comes from school taxes - $58.2 million budgeted for this year, compared with just under $58 million for the current year, or a .42 per cent increase.
Revenue from non-tax sources are expected to be about $3.2 million, an increase of 21.87 per cent over the current year’s $2,623,416. Holmes said that tuitioning students from Greenwood Lake and rental income from the former Kings Elementary School building have been “a savior” for the district. Otherwise, he said, “we’d be looking at a $3 million deficit.”
Special Education
The school district is proposing just over $7.8 million for Special Education, versus just under $7.2 million under the current year, or a 9 per cent increase. This amount would provide services to 808 students in the district, the majority of whom – 464 – are in-district K-12.
The next largest group of Special Education students – 154 – are known as Section 504. According to the New York State Center for School Health, “a 504 plan is a legal document falling under the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is designed to plan a program of instructional services to assist students with special needs who are in a regular education setting. A 504 plan is not an Individualized Education Program (IEP) as is required for special education students. However, a student moving from a special education to a regular education placement could be placed under a 504 plan.”
Capital projects
The school district has budgeted just over $1.9 million for buildings and grounds, up 3.1 per cent from the current budget.
Among the projects the staff is expected to complete by the end of 2016:
• Improving drainage at the tennis court;
• Removal of a tank at the middle school;
• Locker room demolition and tile installation at the high school;
• Wiring and security camera installations;
• Electric work for serving stations at the high school.
Other expenses covered under this part of the budget include:
• $40,000 to buy a new dump truck;
• A $10,000 increase in the cost of natural gas;
• A $5,000 fuel oil increase to heat Sanfordville Elementary and the old Pine Island Elementary building.
“We’re enjoying the ride for now,” Holmes said.
Under current enrollment estimates, the district expects class sizes to remain small on average – around 20 kids to a class (with the exception of Park Avenue 4th grade, with just under 24 kids per class).
He added that the district “doesn’t anticipate” reductions in staffing, and is waiting to see final enrollment of students for the upcoming school year to determine if staffing-up is warranted.
March 28: Work session and budget presentation on estimated expenditures. Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center, 7 p.m.