The budget saga continued at the Scarsdale Board of Education meeting on Monday night 3-19 at Scarsdale High School. The board maintains that the budget for the upcoming year is fiscally responsible, coming in within the confines of the tax cap, and maintains and enhances current programs. Board President Jill Spieler noted in her opening remarks that many assumptions have been made that do not hold up under analysis. She says that it is widely assumed that there will be continued draw-downs of $500,000 in surplus each year to come in under the cap. She says that no decision has been made about subsequent years and decisions will be made on a year-by-year basis. She says that it is widely assumed that state aid will be constant, though that is also a variable. In fact, many of the board members speaking on Monday who spoke agreed and said that this year’s actions would not necessarily be repeated in future years. Factors such as healthcare, heating and capital costs vary from year to year for example and could affect the surplus as well as the need for funds.

Board member Lewis Leone said the budget must be transparent and fair to the schools as well as the taxpayer. He said that the schools are fully reserved and continually adding to the surplus implies that we are asking for more money from the taxpayer than is necessary. He mentioned that there is no line on the budget for a surplus and that it is time for the board to wean itself from this practice.

Board member Suzanne Seiden remarked that the roller coaster ride of the budget this year could have been a reality television show (maybe on C-Span) but said that thanks to skill, hard work and some luck the board came in under the cap after initially predicting it to be millions over. She believes the residents are smart enough to consider each year’s budget separately and to vote accordingly.

Some community members saw things a bit differently:

Gayle Hutcher of the PT Council urged the board to always do what is best for the students, and said that this year should not be a guide for the future. She said that cutting into the surplus this year may be okay but cautioned against doing this in the future and urged the board to review this practice for next year.

Art Rublin, Chair of the Coalition for Scarsdale Schools read prepared remarks, saying that the board should reconsider departing from the proposed budget in the area of planned surplus, noting that the proposal would mean a 40 percent reduction in the surplus that could impact future budgets. (See his remarks below.)

Meanwhile, Scarsdale resident Robert Berg took issue with spending. He said while he was pleased that the budget technically complies with the tax cap law he is troubled by two items in the current budget: turning the old high school auto shop into an ‘internet café’ and the construction of a new high school fitness center. He urged the board to remove these items from the proposed budget. This was not the first time the internet café came up that evening. Earlier that night, when the board met with high school parents, the issue of overcrowding in the cafeteria and bottlenecks on the lunch line for the younger grades were discussed.

Superintendent McGill and Spieler explained to that the internet café is a bit of a misnomer as the new space is intended to not only alleviate some of the overcrowding in the cafeteria but to also serve as a work space for the kids outside of the class room. It was also noted at the meeting that reconfiguring the old auto shop is less expensive than adding an addition onto the cafeteria.

In fact, the new fitness center was on the books since 2008 and scrubbed due to the economic downturn. The current fitness center is overcrowded and poses safety risks.

That evening there was a presentation on Mandarin in the high school- a hot button at last year’s budget meetings. Sylvie Corten, the high school’s world language chair said there were 51 students in all three levels of the course and reviewed their growth this year. She along with Ms. Gu, the Mandarin teacher, presented a short film showing the remarkable proficiency of the students in the Mandarin classes.

There was also a report about the East-West Center and the Interdependence Institute which is a social studies program that works with schools in APEC nations. This was funded with grant money and the report showed the progress made there.

The night wrapped up with Chief Finance Manager Jeff Martin giving a financial report for January and February. With factors such as high oil prices, but low heating needs it was difficult to make accurate projections about those costs this year. Due to the mild winter, the district wound up with a surplus for energy costs. Other surpluses are anticipated for health care costs and capital expenditures. The question then becomes what to do with the surplus? Hand it back to the taxpayer or save it for a rainy or in this case, a snowy day? To be continued….

Remarks from Art Rublin, Chairman of the Coalition for Scarsdale Schools:

GOOD EVENING, ART RUBLIN, CHAIR OF THE COALITION FOR SCARSDALE SCHOOLS.

CSS CONTINUES TO APPRECIATE THE BOARD’S INVITATION OF COMMUNITY INPUT ON THE BUDGET. I WANT TO FOCUS TONIGHT ON OUR PROPOSAL FOR AN ADJUSTMENT ON PLANNED SURPLUS.

WE RESPECTFULLY SUGGEST THAT WHILE THE BOARD IS OF COURSE BY NO MEANS BOUND TO WHAT WAS IN THE DISTRICT’S PRELIMINARY PROPOSED BUDGET, THE BOARD SHOULD RECONSIDER DEPARTING FROM THAT PROPOSED BUDGET IN THE AREA OF PLANNED SURPLUS. THAT PRELIMINARY PROPOSED BUDGET BUDGETED FOR A PLANNED SURPLUS FOR NEXT YEAR OF $3.87 MILLION. THAT WOULD BE A REDUCTION OF ALMOST 40% -- 40% -- FROM THE $6.2 MILLION BEING APPLIED AS PRIOR YEAR SURPLUS THIS YEAR. AND IF THE BOARD RETAINS ITS PROPOSALS TO CUT $550,000 FROM THE HEALTH CARE AND UTILITIES BUDGET LINES FOR 2012-13, THE ACTUAL SURPLUS APPLIED NEXT YEAR FOR 2013-14 LIKELY WOULD NOT BE MUCH, IF ANY, MORE THAN THE $3.87 MILLION. SO THE ACTUAL REDUCTION, YEAR OVER YEAR, OF PRIOR YEAR SURPLUS, WOULD LIKELY BE VERY CLOSE TO THAT 40% REDUCTION IN THE BUDGET.

WE BELIEVE THAT THE BOARD’S EXPRESSED DESIRE TO USE THIS YEAR TO BEGIN A DETERMINED EFFORT TO REDUCE SURPLUS SHOULD BE MORE THAN SATISFIED BY A REDUCTION AT THIS VERY SIGNIFICANT LEVEL OF APPROXIMATELY 40%. IN SUM, WE BELIEVE THE APPROACH TO PLANNED SURPLUS THAT WAS SET FORTH IN THE PRELIMINARY PROPOSED BUDGET IS NOT ONLY PRUDENT BUT ALSO VERY REASONABLE.

IF THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT IT IS NOT SATISFIED WITH A PROJECTED CUT OF 40% FROM PLANNED SURPLUS, I RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT THE BOARD TAKE ANOTHER CLOSE LOOK AT THE ONE-PAGE PROPOSAL THAT MS. PURVIS PROVIDED TO THE BOARD AT ITS SECOND BUDGET STUDY SESSION, IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS FROM BOARD TRUSTEES ABOUT SURPLUSES. I HAVE PROVIDED COPIES TO THE BOARD FOR EASE OF REFERENCE. YOU WILL RECALL THAT MS. PURVIS PROPOSED CUTTING PLANNED SURPLUS FOR 2012-13 BY $700,000, RATHER THAN CUTTING INDIVIDUAL ITEMS, SUCH AS HEALTH CARE OR UTILITIES, THAT MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT PRODUCE SURPLUSES. AND YOU WILL RECALL THAT WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE

DISTINCTION BETWEEN CUTTING PLANNED SURPLUS AND CUTTING UTILITIES AND HEALTH CARE SPENDING, MS. PURVIS AND MR. MARTIN RESPONDED THAT IT WAS SIX IN ONE, HALF DOZEN IN THE OTHER.

THUS, IF THE BOARD ADOPTED MS. PURVIS’ PROPOSAL FOR HOW IT MIGHT CUT $700,000 FROM DR. MCGILL’S BUDGET, THAT COULD BE THE $350,000 THE BOARD CUT FROM HEALTH CARE COSTS, $200,000 FROM UTILITIES, AND THEN $150,000 FROM PLANNED SURPLUS.

MS. PURVIS, TO HER CREDIT, DID NOTE THAT HER PROPOSAL OF A $700,000 CUT WOULD LIKELY MEAN AN INCREASE IN THE TAX LEVY FOR 2013-14, AND ALSO WOULD LIKELY MEAN, 1) “EXCEEDING THE TAX CAP,” WHICH OF COURSE MEANS SEEKING A 60% TAX CAP OVERRIDE VOTE, 2) “ELIMINATING PROGRAMS,” OR 3) USING RESERVES. AND CSS EXPRESSED CONCERNS LAST MONTH ABOUT MS. PURVIS’ PROPOSAL WITH THOSE RISKS IN MIND.

BUT IF BOARD TRUSTEES DETERMINE AS YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DO, NOTWITHSTANDING THE CONCERNS WE HAVE EXPRESSED, THAT YOU WANT TO USE THIS YEAR AS THE FIRST YEAR OF A DETERMINED EFFORT TO REDUCE OR ELIMINATE SURPLUSES AS A REVENUE SOURCE FOR THE DISTRICT, WE RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT YOU REVISIT MS. PURVIS’ FEBRUARY 8TH PROPOSAL.

I WILL NOTE THAT IF YOU ADOPT THAT PROPOSAL FOR CUTS OF $700,000 FROM DR. MCGILL’S PROPOSED BUDGET FROM A COMBINATION OF PLANNED SURPLUS, HEALTH CARE, AND UTILITIES, IT APPEARS THAT THE RELATED TAX LEVY WOULD BE SLIGHTLY OVER THE TAX CAP. WHILE, TO BE CLEAR, WE DO NOT THINK IT WOULD MAKE SENSE FOR THE DISTRICT TO BUDGET SIMPLY TO EXCEED THE TAX CAP IN THIS BELLWETHER YEAR, WE ALSO THINK IT WOULD PUT THE DISTRICT IN THE BEST POSITION FOR FUTURE YEARS – THE YEARS DR. MCGILL AND MS. PURVIS VERY RIGHTLY REFERRED TO IN THEIR PROPOSALS TO THE BOARD LAST MONTH, THE YEARS DURING WHICH WE KNOW YOU ALL ARE VERY COMMITTED TO SUPPORT SCARSDALE EDUCATION FOR TOMORROW. AND AT THE SAME TIME, THE TAX RATE FOR SCARSDALE WOULD BE SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER THAN IT WAS LAST YEAR WHEN THE BOARD CONSIDERED BUT DECIDED NOT TO APPLY ADDITIONAL SURPLUS, AS WE WILL DISCUSS IN MORE DETAIL IN A FOLLOWUP SUBMISSION TO YOU.

THANK YOU.