Smithtown district state aid bill passed
A bill that would restore more than $3 million in state construction aid to the Smithtown Central School District is on its way to the desk of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
The bill was passed unanimously Wednesday by the state Assembly. The State Senate passed the bill May 25.
If signed into law, the legislation would effectively absolve the school district of clerical errors that caused the district to lose $3.1 million in state aid.
District employees in 2004 failed to file on time four reports related to $150 million worth of construction eligible for partial reimbursement from the state, school officials have said. The district has hired an outside auditor to determine why the reports were not filed on time.
Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-St. James), who sponsored the bill with state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), said he expects Cuomo to sign it in the next few weeks.
"As a Smithtown taxpayer, I feel relieved," Fitzpatrick said.
District Superintendent Edward Ehmann said he was "grateful to our local representatives for assisting us in this matter, and I'm hopeful that the governor will sign [the bill] into law."
Cuomo's office did not return a call seeking comment.
The bill orders the state to pay the construction aid "notwithstanding any failure to comply with the approval and filing provisions of the education law . . ." It said the lost financial aid would "impose an additional, unanticipated hardship on district taxpayers."
School district officials had feared losing the aid might reduce the district's future financial aid, because state aid is based on payments from previous years.
Fitzpatrick said he accepted the district's explanation that its failure to file the reports on time was an innocent mistake. "The [school] board's explanation was a valid one. You find out there were issues like this around the state," he said, adding that the legislature has approved $55 million worth of aid reimbursements this year because of similar problems in other school districts.
"It's the right thing to do and the fair thing to do," Fitzpatrick said.
