First Draft Of Budget Is Out
by Alex Brooks
Hoosick Falls School Business Administrator Emily Sanders released a first draft of next year’s school budget at the School Board Meeting on February 13. Overall spending is shown as increasing by just under 5%, which is an increase of $1,097,371. Salaries, which make up a little over half of the operating budget are shown as increasing by about 4%, but there is some uncertainty there because contracts for both teachers and staff are expiring at the end of this school year. The Board is currently trying to negotiate contract renewals, but it is not yet known where that will come out. Salaries amount to about $11,775,000 each year, so a small change in the percentage increase of salaries can be a pretty big number.
The news on benefits is also not too good. The health insurance cost increase, although not a firm number yet, is estimated at 6.5%, which adds about $300,000 to the budget. The State’s assessment for retirement is also increasing by 9.5%, which adds $116,400 to the budget. By contrast, the tax levy must stay below 1.98% in order to be under the tax cap. If it is higher than that, the budget must pass by a supermajority. Sanders said although the first draft of the budget shows a tax levy increase of 13%, it won’t stay anywhere near that figure. The Board’s intention is to stay under the tax cap, which means a tax levy increase of less than $192,000.
State aid figures included in the draft budget are from the Governor’s budget proposal, but it usually changes when the actual budget is adopted on April 1. The school budget currently shows an overall decrease of $64,700 because although foundation aid increased, reimbursement rates for special education expenses were cut, resulting in an overall reduction in state aid for operating expenses for the upcoming year.
Sanders said the Governor’s goal is to have a 2% cap on everything, but she feels that is not realistic. If the cost of salaries is rising by 3 to 4% each year and health insurance is rising 6% a year and retirement assessments by 9% and State aid is flat, keeping the tax levy increase under 2% requires that the District find well over half a million dollars of new savings every year.
In next year’s budget savings were achieved by elimination of two positions – the community information officer and an LPN position – and by replacing several older, higher-salaried teachers with younger, lower-salaried teachers, but these savings were offset by adding a teacher in the off-site PATH program, adding two teacher aides for support of special needs students, and adding one new Special Education teacher.
Quinn Kinney At All State
The meeting began with senior Quinn Kinney talking about his experiences at the All-State Music Festival at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Quinn plays snare drum and tympani as well as other percussion instruments. It is a great honor to be accepted into the All-State orchestra, involving a series of auditions. Many try out for it, and few are accepted. Quinn is the first musician from HFCS to be accepted into the All-State orchestra in 21 years. He said, “playing on a big stage with so many super-talented musicians was the experience of a lifetime.” Quinn played a piece on snare drum for the School Board.
Boiler Project Bids
The Board awarded contracts for the Capital Project work being done this coming summer. The mechanical construction bid went to Eckert Mechanical, LLC for $484,463. The plumbing construction bid went to Collett Mechanical, Inc. for $150,000. The electrical construction contract went to LaCorte Companies, Inc for $39,879. The asbestos abatement contract went to Kascon, LLC for $82,000.
Superintendent Pat Dailey said signs about the asbestos removal project will start appearing around the school in the middle of May, and the asbestos removal company will start in the first or second week of June building some of the enclosures they need to put in before removing asbestos, but the asbestos removal itself will not begin until after graduation. Asbestos removal will take place for about three weeks right after graduation, and no one will be using the building during that time. Summer school will begin July 20 after all of the asbestos removal work has been completed and cleaned up. Dailey also noted that there will be no hot water at the school during the summer because the hot water system is being replaced.
Business Administrator Sanders also said that one of the boilers had failed a few weeks earlier and had to be repaired again, at a cost of $8,000. She noted that when the administration says that the current boilers are on their last legs, they really mean it, and they are just hoping to get through the remainder of this heating season with no further problems.
Retirements
Retirement letters from Elementary teachers Anne Marie Ferrannini and Leslie Green, effective at the end of this school year, were accepted by the Board “with deep regret.” School Board President Rachel Boisvert said they are “two phenomenal teachers,” and said the School District will experience a big loss when they retire.