Can Scarsdalians Afford to Pay For Their Schools?

The Scarsdale School administration unveiled the proposed school budget for 2011-12, and it presents a 2.92% increase over last year’s budget with tax levy growth of 3.86%. Tax increases will be even lower in the Mamaroneck Strip, where residents are long overdue for a break from steep climbs in school taxes.

Here are the numbers:

• School Budget 2010-11:                  $134,743,938
• Proposed School Budget 2011-12:  $138,678,679
• Variance:                                         $3,934.741 or 2.92%

Out of that $3.9 million increase, $2.4 million is for mandated state retirement costs, so it is evident that little has been added this year.

However, the more interesting story is provided by a few numbers that the administrators included in the report that demonstrate how efficiently the school are run and show where Scarsdale ranks in expenses in comparison to 46 districts in Westchester and Putnam. The report also shows the adjusted gross income per pupil in the district, which may give pause to those who claim that school taxes are not affordable.

Here are the facts:

• Spending Per Pupil: Scarsdale spends $23,879 per student, which makes it 13th in spending among the 46 districts in Westchester/Putnam.
• Tax Rate: In Scarsdale the true tax rate is $13.31 and the median tax rate for Westchester/Putnam school districts is $16.43, putting Scarsdale well below that mark.
• Administrative Cost Per Pupil: Scarsdale’s administrative cost per pupil is $469, which places the district at #37 among the 46 districts.
• Adjusted Gross Income Per Pupil: According to the data, the adjusted gross income per pupil in the district is $973,116 as compared to the Westchester/Putnam median of $290,536.

While one could argue that the adjusted gross income figure could be skewed by a few extremely wealthy residents in town, it is a revealing number and should give pause to those who claim that an average salary of $123,000 for teachers is too high and argue that taxes are out of range.

Undoubtedly the debate will continue, but these figures do shed some light on how Scarsdale stacks up relative to other districts in our area.