Long Island

VGHUNTSG

School advocates said Wednesday that 90-percent-plus passing rates in statewide budget elections prove voters want to decide for themselves how education dollars are spent. 
Their main point: Maintaining local control is better than the 2 percent property-tax cap proposed by Gov. Andrew M. <a href="/topics/Andrew_Cuomo">Cuomo</a> to curb school spending. 
"We already have a democratic process for capping property taxes, and it works pretty well," said Richard Iannuzzi, president of the 600,000-member <a href="/topics/New_York_State_United_Teachers">New York State United Teachers</a> union. 
Iannuzzi, who taught in <a href="/topics/Central_Islip%2C_NY">Central Islip</a>, noted that school spending increases have slowed in recent years, both statewide and on Long Island. He called Cuomo's tax-cap plan "ill-conceived." 
Not surprisingly, the governor drew a different conclusion from Tuesday's vote. Island residents approved all but five of 124 district budgets -- a 96 percent passage rate. 
"I think the message is getting out," Cuomo said Wednesday. "We've reined in state spending. We now have to rein in local government and school spending. I think you saw that in a lot of these school district budgets." 
On the Island, the average budget will rise less than the 2.3 percent inflation rate next year, as districts trim staffs and unions agree to salary concessions. But taxes will increase nearly 4 percent to make up for cuts in state school aid. 
In the <a href="/topics/William_Floyd">William Floyd</a> district -- to cite the most dramatic example -- voters on Tuesday narrowly agreed to a 12.47 percent hike in next year's taxes. That's on top of an 8.53 percent increase this year. 
School advocates cite voters' action as evidence that they will accept higher taxes to save music classes, sports and other popular programs. Residents would resent any state attempt to dictate how much they can spend, advocates add. 
"Do they want to pay higher taxes? No, they don't," said Wendell Chu, superintendent of <a href="/topics/East_Islip%2C_NY">East Islip</a> schools. "But when they're given a choice of higher taxes or cuts in programs, they're voting against cuts in programs." 
Relatively few people actually voted, however. The 288,590 who participated on the Island on Tuesday represented less than 16 percent of voters in <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> counties, according to April 1 figures on registered voters from the state Board of Elections. 
Tax activists contend voters are discouraged by state rules that sharply limit the amount of money saved when school budgets are rejected. 
"Most people don't even want to bother anymore," said Fred Gorman of <a href="/topics/Nesconset%2C_NY">Nesconset</a>, organizer of a regional tax group, Long Islanders for Educational Reform. "You've got to listen to the governor -- he's absolutely right." 
Cuomo's proposed 2-percent limit would kick in during the 2012-13 school year. The only costs exempted from the cap would be for construction and legal settlements. The cap could be overridden by vote of the local governing board and a 60 percent majority in a local referendum. 
The <a href="/topics/U.S._Republican_Party">Republican</a>-led Senate has passed the governor's bill. The Assembly, controlled by <a href="/topics/U.S._Democratic_Party">Democrats</a>, has not taken it up, but has promised to introduce its own version soon. 
Some school officials such as Joseph Laria, who is <a href="/topics/Glen_Cove%2C_NY">Glen Cove</a>'s superintendent, think a cap might work, if exemptions are added for such costs as state-mandated pensions and health care. Laria notes that his colleagues managed to find savings when state fiscal pressures demanded it. 
"Isn't it interesting," he said, "that when our backs were to the wall, we all tightened our belts and made do with less, and people supported our budgets."

Education

LISKUL19

School advocates: Results rebut guv plan

School District Budget voting

Long Island's school districts are saddled with $3.7 billion in long-term debt, the price of years of borrowing for construction and improvements ranging from solar panels and upgraded ventilation systems to science labs, refurbished auditoriums and updated athletic fields. 
While the state picks up part of the tab -- in some cases, the majority of it -- property owners, too, are on the hook for this fixed cost, which is plugged into district budgets already straining under dramatic cuts in state aid and the expense of government mandates. 
School budgets that residents in most of the Island's 124 districts will be asked to approve Tuesday include principal and interest due annually on bonds -- indebtedness that over the past decade was encouraged by state policies. 
Debt service on the Island's school district bonds last year totaled $468.9 million, up from $146.1 million in 1990, according to the state Department of Education. 
&nbsp; 
Footing the bill 
As with any IOU, the piper must be paid. 
"The thing you have to consider is, what is the alternative?" said Wendell Chu, superintendent of the <a href="/topics/East_Islip%2C_NY">East Islip</a> school district. "This type of debt that's being picked up is generally for capital projects that are not easy to include in regular budgets." 
The annual debt service is a small piece of a school district's overall spending, which also includes state aid. Last year, debt service ate up 4.5 percent of total expenditures in the Island's districts -- up from 3.1 percent in 2000 and 3.8 percent in 1990. 
In the 1990 fiscal year, <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> school districts had a combined $542.6 million in outstanding bonds, according to data provided by the state comptroller's office. By 2010, those bonded debt obligations had grown to $3.7 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that's a 309 percent increase. 
Consider <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a> as one example. When children were dismissed from <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a>'s schools in the summer of 1990, paying off the district's long-term debt bonds would have taken about $7 from the pocket of every man, woman and child in the district. In 2010, the payoff was $1,389 per person. The district's bonded indebtedness grew in that time from $225,000 to $47.5 million. 
Increased debt by itself doesn't necessarily mean that school districts are borrowing too much -- indeed, as Long Island became wealthier, it could afford more. Overall school spending grew from $3.89 billion in 1990 to $10.37 billion last year, a 60 percent increase after adjusting for inflation. 
"Just to focus on increases in the amount of debt is just a partial view," said Kate Hackett, an analyst at Standard &amp; Poor's. "You have to look at the growth in the economy. It's a very strong economy out in Long Island." 
&nbsp; 
Outpacing inflation rate 
Still, borrowing by many districts has outpaced inflation. The state's growing obligation to fund a portion of school construction and renovation over the past decade prompted changes in law this year that will bring to the fore the trade-off between construction and other costs, such as hiring teachers. 
"New York State has done a number of things over the years to encourage school construction, and some projects were sorely needed and others may have been done because the state's reimbursement was so generous that it was hard to say no," said Morris Peters, spokesman for the state Division of Budget. "The problem with that is it drives up state expenses for school construction." 
In the 1990-91 school year, New York paid school districts throughout the state $380 million for building aid. Twenty years later, that figure had risen to $2.49 billion, an increase of 295 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars. The amount of aid available for eligible projects is largely determined by a district's wealth, with the state paying a greater portion of poorer districts' costs. 
&nbsp; 
The borrowing boom 
Borrowing really took off in the new millennium, fueled by a confluence of factors that created fertile ground for debt. Part of it was simply cyclical need. Many Long Island schools were built in the 1950s and required renovation, or more classrooms were needed in growing districts. Enrollment increased during the 1990s and through 2005, driven by a number of factors, including offering full-day kindergarten in more districts and expanded curriculums. Falling interest rates in the 1990s and 2000s made borrowing cheaper, and rising wealth and property values made more money available. 
Observers point to state policy changes that encouraged borrowing: a temporary state increase in building aid, imposition of a payment schedule that spread reimbursement over fixed time periods, and a grant program that prompted sale of more bonds. 
Starting in 1998, the state temporarily increased building aid available to all school districts, prompting many to go out with bond referendums. 
Chu said that state incentives spurred districts to make needed investments in their facilities. 
"That incentive caused a lot of school districts to do those projects -- projects that they may have decided to put off for a later point in time or might have even enhanced projects to allow them to do better things," he said. 
Then, in 2002 the state changed the way it reimbursed school districts so that it paid them over 15, 20 or 30 years, depending upon the type of project, which discouraged pay-as-you-go spending. 
"Governor Pataki, when times were tougher, turned around immediately and stretched out the repayments over the life of the project," said John Bierwirth, superintendent of the <a href="/topics/Herricks%2C_NY">Herricks</a> school district. "In a relatively short period of time, the state was one moment encouraging construction and in the next moment encouraging people to go into debt." 
Finally, a program called EXCEL encouraged districts sell more bonds, though that cost generally fell more on state taxpayers than individual districts. The borrowing bonanza prompted state lawmakers to change the system this year. The 2011-12 budget capped growth in school aid, including building aid. That means as more funds are approved for districts' capital projects, less money will be available for other things. 
"This dynamic has existed for a long time -- of expense-based aid growing as a percentage of the total," Peters said. "Going forward, as we're constraining school-aid growth, that problem is going to essentially be compounded, and this will focus a little more attention on the issue."

LIBOND13

School debt soars on Long Island

lirally

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Cold_Spring_Harbor%2C_NY">COLD SPRING HARBOR</a> 
Vote Approved, 758-438 
Budget $58,420,903, a 2.86% increase 
Tax levy $54,091,985, a 3.93% increase 
Average home The district says it cannot calculate the increase in taxes on an average single-family home until after the state sets the equalization rate in August. 
Proposition Approved, 822-360, spending $1.8 million from capital reserve fund on school building improvements and installation of a wireless network. 
School board Incumbents Janice Elkin (854), Lori Homer (863) and <a href="/topics/Joseph_%28designer%29">Joseph</a> Morante (885) ran unopposed for three-year terms.

News

VGCOLD15

Cold Spring Harbor School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Commack%2C_NY">COMMACK</a> 
Vote Approved, 2,680-1,585 
Budget $166,081,826, a 3.33% increase 
Tax levy $122,982,220, a 2.96% increase 
Average home In <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a>, the average house assessed at $6,000 will pay school taxes of $9,099, an estimated increase of 2.81% over the current $8,850; the average <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a> house assessed at $4,200 will have a school tax bill of $9,774, an estimated increase of 3.19% from this year's $9,472. 
School boardPeter Wunsch (1,786) beat (Miguel) Micheal Chacon (1,474) and incumbent Mary Jo Masciello ran unopposed. Terms are three years.

VGCOMM15

Commack School District

ELWOOD 
Vote Approved, 1,779-1,129 
Budget $53,949,930, a 5.56% increase 
Tax levy $39,934,711, a 7.98% increase 
Average home Assessed at $4,000 increases 8.91%, about $750 a year. 
School board William Gutekunst (1,382) defeated James Tomeo (1,227) for the seat held by current board president Michael Kaszubski; Michael LaMena (1,375) beat Jack Schwartz (1,113) for the seat held by incumbent Patricia Matos, who withdrew from the race. Terms are three years.

VGELWO15

Elwood School District

HALF HOLLOW HILLS 
Vote Approved, 1,748-1,110 
Budget $215,978,880, a 3.89% increase 
Tax levy $178,147,658, a 4.94% increase 
Average home Assessed at $5,500 will increase 4.94% to $9,774, the district estimates. 
School board Diana Acampora (1,613), Betty DeSabato (1,655) and Paul Peller (1,558) beat Maria Holmquist (1,515) and Christopher Schiavo (1,120) for three seats with three-year terms.

VGHALF15

Half Hollow Hills School District

HARBORFIELDS 
Vote Approved, 2,068-979 
Budget $73,975,620, a 3.51% increase 
Tax levy $56,512,100, a 4.45% increase 
Average home Assessed at $4,000 will increase by 4.91%, to $8,719.20. 
School board Incumbents Nicholas Giuliano (1,707) and Michael Banks (1,560) defeated challenger <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Samantha_Smith">Samantha Smith</a> (1,342) for seats with three-year terms.

VGHARB15

Harborfields Central School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">HUNTINGTON</a> 
Vote Approved, 2,318-1,139 
Budget $109,037,301, a .23% increase 
Tax levy $94,258,187, a 2.48% increase 
Average home Assessed at $4,000 increases 3.15% to $8,286 
Proposition Approved, 2,460-837, authorizes spending money in the current Building Improvement Fund on a variety of projects in district buildings. 
School board Challengers Jennifer Hebert (1,677) and Adam Spector (1,656) defeated incumbent William Dwyer (1,327) and challengers Jim Cahill (1,242) and <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Susan_Tully">Susan Tully</a> (842) for two seats with three-year terms.

VGHUNT15

Huntington School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/Northport%2C_NY">NORTHPORT</a>-<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/East_Northport%2C_NY">EAST NORTHPORT</a> 
Vote Approved, 3,114-2,348 
Budget $151,178,758, a 2.5% increase 
Tax levy $131,445,850, a 1.69% increase 
Average home Assessed at $3,800 increases 1.83% to $6,163.60 
Proposition Approved, 3,753-1,442, to spend $900,000 from capital reserve fund to replace two boilers at <a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/East_Northport%2C_NY">East Northport</a> Middle School and the front stairs at the William J. Brosnan school. 
School board Incumbent Jennifer Thompson (2,866), and Joseph Sabia (3,307), Tammie Topel(2,847) and Kristen Gavin (2,737) defeated incumbents Joseph Gannon (2,445) and Karen Wills (2,291). The candidate with the fourth-highest number of votes will fill a one-year term created after Tim Madden vacated his seat early.

VGNOPT15

Northport-E. Northport School District

<a href="http://www.newsday.com/topics/South_Huntington%2C_NY">SOUTH HUNTINGTON</a> 
Vote Approved, 2,135-1,106 
Budget $140,255,037, a 1.29% increase 
Tax levy $100,401,290, a 4.76% increase 
Average home Assessed at $3,500 increases 5.91% to $7,767.03 
School board Incumbent Jim Kaden (1,661) and challenger Lisa Brieff (1,793) defeated incumbent Melanie Vassallo (846) and challenger Laci Wright (1,339) for two at-large seats. Terms are three years.

VGSHUN15

South Huntington School District

Huntington school districts

Newsday

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