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Ask the Superintendent -
May 7, 2008
There are only two weeks (or another way of
looking at it two columns remaining) until the
Annual Budget Vote and School Board Election on May
20th.
In this week’s column I would like to highlight the
major reasons our costs have increased this year.
Next week I will share the many ways the District
has attempted to curtail expenditures for the
2008-09 budget.
Our District was very fortunate this year to receive
additional funding from the State. That increase
helped us tremendously, but unfortunately our costs
have surpassed the additional aid received. I don’t
think anyone could have predicted the increase in
energy costs. Our School District, like everyone
else, must cope with this challenge. Although we
purchase our fuel for transportation and heating at
State contract prices, (which is approximately one
dollar less per gallon) the costs have still
increased tremendously. Our cost for electricity has
increased proportionately. We are also facing fuel
surcharges on all of our many deliveries.
In the area of Special Education, while our number
of students with special needs increased slightly,
the degree of their disabilities has increased
greatly. It is our responsibility to properly meet
the needs of these students and that means
additional expenses. Under a new State mandate,
public school districts are responsible to provide
special education services to any private school
student within the boundaries of their District.
This new regulation is called “District of
Location.” Although we are reimbursed for these
special education services, we must first expend the
money. It does increase the expenditure side of our
budget. It is very similar to the way in which we
are reimbursed for the special education students at
St. Dominic’s School.
This past year was a particularly difficult year in
which we refunded $342,000 in tax certioraris and
Supreme Court Assessment Reviews (SCARS) and
assessor errors. We collect taxes based upon the
assessed value of each home. If the assessment is
deemed impropriate, we must return the amount of
money the courts decide. We must budget in the
future to meet these needs, so that the money is not
taken from our operating budget which in turn
impacts our students.
One of the things we have always been most proud of
is the amount of revenue we generate as a result of
the interest we generated on our investments. It has
not been uncommon in the past to receive $500,000,
and in some years more. This earned interest was
always applied to offset the tax levy. With interest
rates approximately half of what they were last
year, our revenue flow in this area has been reduced
by more than $370,000. This equates to less money
applied to the revenue portion of the budget.
These are the major areas driving up our costs. In
next week’s column, I’ll explain what we are doing
to curtail expenditures while continuing to maintain
the high quality educational program that the Goshen
Central School District is proud to provide.
Roy Reese
Superintendent of Schools |
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