Sneak Preview: School District's 2011-12 Budget Brochure

Though it hasn't been mailed to homes yet, Rockville Centre Patch has received an advance copy of the school district's 2011-12 budget brochure at Tuesday's Board of Education meeting. Here are some of the highlights.

The school board is presenting a $95.6 million budget for 2011-12, an increase of 2.41 percent over the current fiscal plan. Officials said the increase is the second lowest in 19 years, and all current programs and services will remain in place. The total amount residents will pay through the tax levy is around $4 million more than they did in the 2010-11 school year, increasing school taxes by about $400 a year. The district, however, did lose $1.1 million in state aid.

The brochure breaks the budget down into six categories: instruction, benefits, general support, transportation, debt service, building improvements and interfund transfers (the aforementioned three are grouped into one category) and community services. Here's the monetary breakdown:

• Instruction: $57,037,559, up from $56.5 million in 2010-11.
• Benefits: $20,871,300, up from $19.3 million in 2010-11.
• General Support (administrators, plant operations, MTA payroll tax): $10,566,588, up from $9.1 million in 2010-11.
• Transportation: $3,772,226, down from $3.8 million in 2010-11.
• Debt Service, Building Improvements and Interfund Transfers: $3,176, 501, down from $3.2 million in 2010-11.
• Community Services: $191,010, up from $188,960 in 2010-11.

State mandated costs, like the MTA payroll tax, health insurance and retirement system contributions, will cost the district $2.9 million more in 2011-12 than it did in the current school year. If the budget is rejected by voters, the district will go to a contingency budget, which would cut the proposed budget by $300,000.

Under state law regulations, however, the district could not purchase new equipment or allow community organizations to use district facilities without being fully reimbursed if it worked off a contingency plan.

The district also outlined methods it uses to cut costs, like participating in cooperative services, converting to natural gas, embarking on an , negotiating with bargaining units to freeze teacher salaries for one year and increasing employee contributions for health insurance.

There will be a public discussion on expenditures on April 27 at 8:30 p.m. at the high school, and a school budget hearing on May 3 at 8:30 p.m. at the high school as well. The budget vote is on May 17 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Residents can vote at the high school.