Sachem Board Provides Update To Spending Plan

Sachem Associate Superintendent Bruce Singer introduced an updated budget plan that would ask the public for an 8.05% tax increase in 2013-14 at Wednesday's Board of Education meeting held in the Samoset auditorium. That cuts in half the potential 16% increase the district would need to impose in order to operate a spending plan identical to this year.

The new figures are reflective of a number of factors that have increased the revenue stream for Sachem over the past few weeks, according to Singer. For one, Albany has now reinstated Sachem's aid it was initially siphoning away, and has added $300,000 to the pot, bringing the total aid to $2.3 million.

Secondly, the district received more concrete information on teacher retirement and attrition (26 retirements), which has freed up an additional stream of cash.

Thirdly, after initially rejecting the proposal, the New York State comptroller's office has agreed to a "pension smoothing" plan that would reduce next year's payment Sachem is required to make to the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). The pension smoothing plan is optional, and the board will be required to officially approve the district's decision to opt in by June 2014. The down-side to the smoothing plan is that payments will be made to the TRS over a 7-year period with interest, which will end up costing the district roughly $1 million more than if they opted out of the plan.

If the district opts out of the pension smoothing plan, the tax levy increase will grow from 8.05% to 9.8%, according to the new proposal. Yesterday the board unanimously indicated that it was leaning in the direction of taking the pension smoothing deal.

The 8.05% budget plan still requires a degree of cuts to programs and positions. Singer's new budget recommendations call for the elimination of 74 full-time jobs and the district's G.A.T.E program. The lost jobs include custodial staff, kindergarten aids, attendance aids, grounds crew, maintenance, some secondary teachers, some reading teachers, a guidance counselor, school communication aids and others. For a list of the job cuts, view the photo attached to this story. (Most job cuts are noted with the acronym "FTE")

At last night's meeting, representatives from the district's communication aids, kindergarten aids and attendance aids spoke during the public comments section to ask the board to reconsider the cuts. Next week the district will roll out what cuts it will need to make if the community only agrees to the 4.91% tax cap.  

"This is more palatable to the community than 16-percent," Singer said when asked about the new proposal. "Hopefully they'll support it, but we'll see next week when the community sees the more drastic cuts to get to the tax cap."

Side Notes:

• The district introduced two other potential revenue streams in the budget: a 20% increased fee for child care and a $2 per hour increased fee for building usage. The two initiatives would add an extra $280,000 to the district's revenue.
• The board put up for approval at the next meeting, plans to conduct a title search and appraisal on the district's building at 245 Union Avenue for possible sale in the future. While the board acknowledged that sale of the building would not impact this coming budget, the title search would clear the way for any future budget issues. Board Member Michael Isernia suggested that the sale might even help pay off the $1 million interest accrued by taking the pension smoothing plan. A woman in attendance at the meeting who specializes in real estate offered to conduct the search and appraisal at cost: approximately $2,000, according to the woman.
• The 8.05% tax levy increase translates to roughly $515 extra per year for each property owner. Board members and some in attendance noted that $515 translates to about $1.41 per day.