2012-13 Budget Documents:
- BUDGET STATEMENT IN THREE-PART FORMAT
- THREE-PART FORMAT EXPLAINATION FROM DISTRICT NEWSLETTER
- PROPERTY TAX REPORT CARD
- FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY SUPPLEMENT
- SALARY DISCLOSURE NOTICE
- EXEMPTION REPORTING FOR TAXING JURISDICTIONS
- DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY AND OVERVIEW REPORT
- DISTRICT COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION REPORT
The Glens Falls Board of Education has adopted a $38.9 million budget proposal for the 2012-13 school year that carries no tax levy increase (zero percent) and increases spending by 1.11 percent over the current year's budget -- maintaining all programs and staff. Residents will vote on the proposed budget on Tuesday, May 15, from Noon - 9 p.m. at Sanford Street School. READ THE FULL BUDGET NEWSLETTER NOW, before it arrives in your mailbox later this week.
Watch Superintendent Paul Jenkins' budget interview on Look-TV:
Board of Education approves 2012-13 budget proposal
Plan keeps tax levy flat; no cuts to educational program
The Glens Falls City Schools Board of Education adopted a $38.9 million budget proposal for 2012-13 at its meeting on April 16. If approved by voters on Tuesday, May 15, the spending plan would keep the tax levy flat and maintain the current educational program with no staffing cuts. The proposed year-to-year budget increase is 1.11 percent, after a budget development process in which the loss of federal Education Jobs funding and increases in employee benefit costs were offset by use of the district’s fund balance and savings generated in areas such as central administration and energy usage.
“Our situation is unique this year,” said Superintendent Paul Jenkins. “We don’t have to make cuts in program or staffing, we don’t have to raise the community’s tax levy, and we can make necessary repairs using money we already have in savings,” Mr. Jenkins said, referring to the capital reserve fund and project authorization the board has also placed on the ballot for May 15. (Additional details on the capital reserve and project vote can be found HERE)
The 2012-13 spending plan allows for three new elementary teaching positions, which will be necessary because of a larger young-student population. One retirement at the High School will not be filled, partially because of declining enrollment at the high school level. “Our goal is to meet the needs of our students while respecting the investments of our taxpayers,” Mr. Jenkins said. [READ MORE HERE]
Audit & Finance Committee meeting materials: 4/4/12
Audit & Finance Committee meeting materials: 3/29/12
Audit & Finance Committee meeting materials: 3/22/12
Audit & Finance Committee meeting materials: 3/15/12
Audit & Finance Committee meeting materials: 3/8/12
Audit & Finance Committee meeting materials: 3/1/12
- HANDOUT: ADMINISTRATION, FACILITIES
- POWERPOINT PRESENTATION 3.01.12
- NEW YORK'S TAX LEVY LIMIT FORMULA:
HOW DOES IT ADD UP? - THE THREE TAX LEVY NUMBERS UNDER NEW YORK STATE'S TAX LEVY "CAP"
- UNDERSTANDING NEW YORK'S PROPERTY TAX LEVY CAP
Tax Levy Limit calculated at 2.35%
The Glens Falls City School District has calculated its property tax levy limit, with exclusions, to be 2.35% for the 2012-13 budget year. This figure represents the most the Glens Falls property tax levy could increase without a supermajority of voter approval.
“The Board of Education has not yet determined the property tax levy increase – or decrease – in the 2012-13 school budget,” says Superintendent Paul Jenkins. “Our five-part series of budget development meetings begins this Thursday, and we’ll be talking about every aspect of our spending plan for next year.”
Director of Business Steve Meier submitted the required calculation information to the Office of the State Comptroller on Friday, February 24, nearly a week prior to the March 1 deadline for school districts to finalize their calculations.
State legislation enacted last June established a property tax levy cap in New York. The new law applies to the tax levy, not to tax rates or individual tax bills.
Although the new law has been referred to as a “2 percent tax cap,” its provisions are actually more complicated than that. It does not in fact restrict any proposed tax levy increase to 2 percent. Rather than cap a district’s tax levy, the law prescribes an eight-step formula for districts to calculate a figure that is essentially a threshold for what level of voter support is needed for budget passage. This figure is known in the law as the “tax levy limit.”
Individual school districts will each have a unique tax levy limit, which must be submitted to the state by March 1 of each year. While one calculation that contributes to determining the tax levy limit is an inflation figure defined as no more than 2 percent, there are a myriad of other adjustments and exemptions that will affect the final tax levy limit threshold.
If the proposed tax levy (before exemptions) is at or below this threshold, a simple majority (50 percent plus one) is needed for budget approval. If the proposed tax levy (before exemptions) exceeds a district’s tax levy limit, the support of a super majority (60 percent or more) of voters is required for budget passage.
The exemptions include some court orders, some pension costs, and local capital expenditures. These items are added to the tax levy limit to determine the maximum tax levy a district can propose while still requiring a simple majority for budget passage.
The tax levy limit calculation will be detailed for Board of Education members and the community at the district’s budget development meeting on Thursday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in the district offices.
Budget development resources:
- THE THREE TAX LEVY NUMBERS UNDER NEW YORK STATE'S TAX LEVY "CAP"
- NEW YORK'S TAX LEVY LIMIT FORMULA:
HOW DOES IT ADD UP?
Although often referred to as a “2 percent tax cap,” New York’s new tax levy “cap” law does not restrict any proposed tax levy increase to 2 percent. Pursuant to the law, each school district must follow an 8-step calculation, outlined here, to calculate its individual “tax levy limit.” That limit then determines what level of voter support is required for budget approval.
Community Budget Forum held on January 24
- SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION NOTES
- POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
- SMALL GROUP HANDOUTS
- "UNDERSTANDING NEW YORK'S PROPERTY TAX CAP LEVY CAP"
The district currently has a larger than usual unassigned fund balance, due to factors such as the settlement of a number of tax certiorari cases and some fiscally responsible under-spending. That being the case, the Board of Education is considering creating a capital reserve fund and/or other reserve funds that may be necessary for the future. A capital reserve is essentially a special savings account to fund capital improvement projects like asbestos removal, technology/wiring upgrades, etc. Money from the unassigned fund balance can be put into this reserve, ultimately saving the district money when these repairs and replacements need to be made. The projects can be funded out of the capital reserve, rather than being built into the general budget. Since public votes are required to both establish and then expend money from a capital reserve account, the district wants to get as much community feedback on the idea as possible. If the Board of Education were to establish a capital reserve, a public vote of approval would likely be scheduled for this spring.
District leaders also talked about revenue streams at Tuesday’s budget forum. The state aid estimates with Governor Cuomo’s Executive Budget were released on January 17, and some figures used to calculate the district’s property tax levy limit are firming up. Our school community has differing viewpoints on how to create a budget that gives students an education our city can be proud of—at a cost our residents can afford. Now is the time to make your voice heard in the conversation around our community’s values and priorities within the Glens Falls educational program.
Handout materials and the "live-Tweets" from November 29's informative discussion “Understanding the Property Tax Levy Cap,” are now available by clicking the graphic above-left, and by visiting the GlensFallsCSD Twitter feed.
Michele Levings, Director of the State Aid and Financial Planning Service at Questar III BOCES, and Dr. Richard Timbs, Executive Director of the Statewide School Finance Consortium, gave participants a frank, data-driven, and eye-opening view of how the new property tax levy cap will bump up to the state's current -- and inequitable, argues Dr. Timbs --education funding formulas. Read more on the Glens Falls City Schools Twitter feed and in the Post Star article HERE.
“The cap is really not a cap,” said Ms. Levings. “It sets a higher threshold for voter approval of school budgets.” Earlier in the forum, Superintendent Paul Jenkins addressed a common misconception that the law limits a tax levy increase to 2% … or that it limits an individual’s tax bill increase to 2%. Neither of these statements is true under the tax levy cap law. The law does, however, set the threshold for school budget passage with a new figure called the tax levy limit.
“The tax levy limit calculation contains eight steps, with 12 different numbers needed to complete the formula,” said Ms. Levings as she explained the calculation for a district’s tax levy limit. That limit determines whether a district’s budget passes with 50% voter approval or requires 60% voter approval.
Using NYS Education Department data from the Property Tax Report Cards (providing figures for every school district across the state online HERE), Dr. Timbs said, "High-needs district must raise taxes more to make up aid cuts, while wealthy districts keep levy increases low. So, headlines show the wealthier districts as reasonable spenders, and high-needs districts as unreasonable spenders."
“If you must cut, you usually cut people. If you cut people, you cut programs, and thus kids' ability to compete,” continued Dr. Timbs, as he argued that today’s kindergarteners through eleventh-graders will not get the same quality of education as students who have recently graduated.
Additional information and views can be found online at the Statewide School Finance Consortium website, the Education Speaks website, and at the Questar III State Aid and Financial Planning website.
