B-BP BOE Approves School Budget Proposal

The Bayport-Blue Point Board of Education unanimously approved a $67,156,319 budget for the 2013-2014 school year Tuesday night which represents a budget increase of 3.74% over the current year's spending plan and adheres to the state-mandated tax levy cap, which for the district is set at 3.54% for next year.

The proposed budget carries a 2.99% tax levy increase, more than half a percent below the allowable limit of 3.54%, according to district officials. The difference between the widely discussed 2% cap and the district's allowable limit of 3.54% is due to district employee costs that are exempt from the tax cap mandate.

While there are no cuts to educational programming or extra-curricular activities, reductions made to meet the tax cap include reducing the number of teacher aides and assistants by 18 positions, not replacing a retiring clerical position and an open custodial posion and the excessing of a part-time custodial job.

The district is not replacing five of 10 teachers who are retiring this year. It has also reduced the salary line for the district's plant facilities manager who retired last year. That latter reduction represents a savings of approximately $100,000 according to district officials.

In order to meet the tax cap requirement the district had to cut spending by just under $2 million. Initial state aid was quite less than expected but the final state aid package brought additional monies into the budget creation equation at the board's final budget hearing on April 2.

What to do with the additional aid was a hot button of discussion by the board which was divided over whether to put the additional $200,000 of budgeted state aid into reserves, leaving the tax levy at 3.54%, or applying it to reduce the tax levy to 2.99%.

According to the minutes of the meeting Trustee Leonard Camarda made a motion to put the additional $200,000 in budgeted state aid toward reducing the levy, which would drop it to 2.99%. The motion was approved by a vote of four to three. Board Vice President John Lynch and Trustees Rebecca Campbell and Bill Milligan supported Camarda's motion.

Voting against the motion were BOE President James March and Trustees Diane D'Angelo and Molly Licalzi.