School District Braces for Cuts, Layoffs in Lean Budget Year

The Port Chester School District is bracing for some tough choices.

In the past two years, the district shaved costs in small ways by limiting hall monitors and computer aids, and even with online-only school calendars. (Calendars were mailed home to parents in previous years.)

This year, that won't be enough.

At the Feb. 10 Board of Education meeting, parents, teachers and board members listened as Maura McAward, assistant superintendent, warned of more drastic cuts. With rising pension and healthcare costs, drastic reductions in state aid and other money-sinks, cutting staff is almost a certainty, and programs could follow.

“We’re at the point where we’ve cut about everything we can, but we’re talking about millions of dollars," said Jim Taylor, the school board's president. "It’s too early yet to tell who’s on the chopping block."

Taxpayers for the details. They'll get their first look at the board's proposed budget on March 10; after public input, the board will present a revised budget on March 30. On May 17, voters will head to the polls to approve or deny the budget.

Along with rising pension and healthcare costs, there's a thorny problem with the tax base–taxable properties in the village are valued at $300,000 million less than they were last year, according to the district.

To keep services and staffing at current levels, taxpayers would have to cough up an additional $4.9 million, a tax levy increase of more than 9.5 percent. That would bring the school budget to $82 million, up from $77 million this year.

Since that kind of increase is nearly guaranteed to fail at the polls –this year's budget passed by only 74 votes– the two preliminary budgets would raise the taxy levy by 6.35 percent or two percent.

“We are in a very dire situation," Taylor said. "Ever since we have started this downturn in the economy and watched the value of housing go down, the situations were worse and worse."

Here's an early look at possible budget proposals, according to a presentation on the district's website:

Scenario 1

Base budget scenario (maintain existing program and staff without personnel cuts)

Estimated:

Budget to budget increase of $4,906,886

Estimated tax levy increase of +9.54 percent

Scenario 2

4 percent expenditure increase, potentially 15 staff reductions

Estimated:

Budget to budget increase of $3,081,886 (+3.99 percent)

Estimated tax levy increase of 6.19 percent

Scenario 3 

2 percent tax levy increase, potentially 30+ staff reductions

Estimated:

Budget to budget increase of $876,866 (+1.13 percent)

Estimated tax levy increase of 2 percent

Reduction of $4,030,000 from base budget

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