Money talks: RVCS school budget questions and answers

The Rochester Town Board meeting on April 23 opened with a budget presentation by Rondout Valley Central Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Spadaro and Assistant Superintendent Tabatha Biggane. PowerPoint bullet points and charts accompanied the talk (available on the Town of Rochester website). District residents vote on the budget on Tuesday, May 19.
Spadaro began by noting some of the programs beyond the basics that RVCS offers, among them the Future Farmers of America, BOCES classes in skills like welding and small-engine repair, and the award-winning music program. “The school budget funds all these programs,” he said.
Biggane, the financial officer, had the numbers. The budget is going up 2% this year, she said, to about $83 million, up from $80.5 million last year. At the same time, “our revenues have gone down by almost $3 million… to support that, we’re looking at a property tax increase of 3.82%.” State aid, which is the school's only other source of revenue, has remained flat at $27.3 million, Biggane said. (She added that some special ed courses have tuition charges; they attract students from other school districts, that money goes into budget.) There’s therefore a shortfall of about $400,000. “We are proposing using our fund balance” to cover it, she said. The fund balance comes from savings of previous years when expenditures turned out to be less than estimated.
A pie chart showed that 75% of the budget goes to education programs, 10% administrative and 15% capital, which means maintenance costs: equipment, materials, and worker salaries.
“Part of that [$4.6 million] gap is our declining enrollment,” Spadaro explained. In the last 10 years, RVCS has lost 342 students, which amounts to 17%. “To be fiscally responsible,” the staff needs to be reduced in numbers proportionate to enrollment, he said. They plan to drop two administrative and 20 other staff positions. They’re trying to save money in other ways: encouraging staff retirements, energy savings, health insurance copay increases. They have a $10 million grant to convert to EV school buses. “We’re trying to be strategic, trying to be creative... so we don’t put the burden on the taxpayers.”
Kate Gundberg, town clerk, had questions. “I am the tax collector from the Town of Rochester, so nobody hears from the taxpayers more than myself. A couple of concerns: One is that the state uses 2008 census data for aid determination.”
“That actually helps us,” Spadaro replied. ”Our enrollment in 2008 was four or five hundred more students,” and the state allots aid based on student population. “Have you considered closing one of the elementary schools?” asked Gundberg. “Because that is where you’re going to see significant impacts to the taxpayer. Not trying to find $2 million here or $4 million there.”
“I’ll segue right into that,” said Spadaro. “We are going through a reconfiguration right now.” The intermediate and junior high schools [grades 4-6, then 7-8] are being combined into a middle school. “We’ve already started that process of consolidation.” They’re also looking at possibly, over the next 10 years, “moving everyone onto one campus, kind of like Onteora has done... we’re still in research mode. We could potentially move the fourth grade back to the elementary schools.” Some retiring elementary teachers have not been replaced, due to low class sizes.
Someone else asked Spadaro, “If you’re cutting back on staff and have falling enrollment, why do you need more money?” “Usually every year our contractual obligations go up 4-5-6%,” he replied. “This year our health insurance went up 16%. That was a big hit.” Another question: What would happen to unused buildings if they consolidate in the future?
A woman commented that one reason the state aid level has fallen is the perception that this is a wealthy area. “One of the problems we have is that on paper we are considered a very rich county because of our assessed property values,” agreed Spadaro. Biggane added that the assessments in all the towns they tax, “not just Rochester, not just Marbletown,” went up the most of any place in NY State. “That is now affecting the district’s ability to generate aid, because the district looks to be wealthy.”
“I just want to say, this is fantastic,” declared resident Troy Dunn. “I never remember the school district coming to a town meeting before." He had questions about the necessity for a fund balance. "The fund balance comes from overbudgeting – correct me if I’m wrong.”
Biggane answered, “In theory, you are correct. However, the budget is based on an estimate; there are a lot of unknowns. For example, a family with special needs can move into the district at any time, and we have to educate them just the same. Utility costs, we can’t really predict... Not every year will see a surplus."
Dunn wanted to know, “Where do we stand academically? In mathematics and reading? I love reading the newsletter about all the programs and seeing the good things we’re doing,” but is the money per student getting a good result?
“Academic standings are determined by state test results,” Spadaro said; all the data is available on the NYS Dept. of Education website. "You can look at the trends and see how we’re performing against other schools in Ulster County… and across the state.” The graduation rate last year, he said, was 95%. "To answer your question, I think you’re getting a good return on your investment.”
In answer to board member Zali Win’s question about what they expect as far as enrollment in the future, Spadaro said, “Next year we are projected to have about 100 kids entering kindergarten.” (That’s down from a high school graduating class of about 250 a generation ago.)
“What is your remaining fund balance?” asked Win. About $6 million in reserves earmarked for particular purposes, but the fund balance was basically used up, Biggane replied. “We’re breaking even.”
Win asked, “Does a town with a lot of hundred-acre parcels pay less of the levy than a town with many one-acre parcels?” Biggane: “If there are more parcels in a town, we tax more people. So it’s more about the number, not the size or value of the parcels.”
“But it’s also the value,” interjected board member Michael Coleman. “If Marbletown has $100 million total parcel value and Rochester has $50 million, then Marbletown would pay twice as much.” “That is [proportionately] pretty much what Marbletown does pay,” said Spadaro.“The tax map is largest for Marbletown,” added Biggane.
Coleman asked if the pie chart reflecting what money gets spent on is similar to other Ulster County districts; Biggane answered yes, they are all pretty similar. As far as cost per student goes, “We’re second [highest] in Ulster County, it’s up there. We’re at $38,000.” So we want to get down at least to the median of Ulster County," which is about $30,000, Spadaro estimated.
Dunn asked, “How many teachers do you have in sports?” Spadaro told him there is a single athletic director for all the sports; coaches are part-time and receive a stipend of around $5500. Dunn singled out the football field, built a few years ago, as an extravagance. “The cost of maintaining that field is a waste of money.” “It is a beautiful facility,” commented Spadaro, adding that the school charges a fee for non-school events sometimes held there.
Town Supervisor Erin Enouen asked Spadaro if he’d be willing to go to the county with her to ask for more of a local voice in how the county gives out PILOTs, which are tax incentives to encourage businesses; the Granary development in Accord was awarded a PILOT without any input from the town of Rochester, which will miss the revenue that would have been provided by those taxes. “I understand the concept behind PILOTs but they really affect how the taxes are distributed... I feel that we should have more say. I sympathize with the budgetary constraints that you have, constantly making decisions between a rock and a hard place." Spadaro answered, “Absolutely, yes." He also suggested that PILOT recipients make an "education contribution” in lieu of taxes.

To vote on the RVCS budget for next year, go to the district office, 122 Kyserike Road, Accord, from 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday, May 19. Absentee ballots are available. Any questions, call 845-687-2400 ext. 03.