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Local School Budgets In A Box
Candidates for Trustee: Incumbents Diane Koza Egglinger, Charles Walters and Lisa Johnson are seeking three year terms. Lisa Johnson assumed the seat formerly held by Dennis James and is running for the first time. Other propositions on ballot: None
District: Copiague 2008/09
Candidates for Trustee: Incumbents Brian J. Sales and Rosemary Natoli are running for 3-year seats and face opposition from Darline Jackson. Other propositions on ballot: None
What Does It All Mean? What is the tax rate? In Nassau and Suffolk counties, the tax rate is the amount paid by property owners for every $100 of assessed value on their property. All municipalities, including school districts, towns, villages and counties, use the rate to determine the total taxes on real property. Changes in the rate are voted on by the lawmakers in each of those taxing entities every year. To determine the total real property taxes on a home, you divide the assessment by 100 and multiply it by the tax rate. For example, if a home is assessed at $5,000, and the tax rate is $10, you multiply 50 by $10. The taxes would be $500 a year. All tax rates presented by school districts at this time are estimates based on the most accurate information available. Final assessment figures and other data that impact on the tax rate have not been finalized by the counties or state. What is a tax levy? A tax levy is the amount of money a school district or other government entity needs to raise through local property taxes to pay for the expenses outlined in its budget. It is one factor used to determine the tax rate and is based on the amount of the approved budget, less state aid and other sources of revenue such as surplus funds, fees and interest on investments. What are proportionment rates? In Nassau County, properties are divided into four classes: residential, multifamily, commercial and franchise assessment (utilities). Each separate class pays a portion of the total tax levy as established at the state level through a complicated formula. In recent years, the proportionment rates have shifted the burden of taxation away from the other three classes and on to the residential taxpayer in many Nassau County districts, driving those rates up. How does state aid affect the tax rate? Since the state budget is either not approved or finalized by the time voters are asked to approve their school budgets in May, budget planners must estimate what they believe the district will receive in state aid when formulating their proposed budgets. That estimated figure is included into the budget and helps determine the tax levy. State aid packages that come in higher than projected could reduce the levy and lower the actual tax rate; lower-than- projected state aid packages increase the tax levy and could raise the actual tax rate. Additional state aid can also be put into savings, or used to offset increased expenditures identified by the school board at any point during the school year as contingency items. What happens if the budget is not approved? State Education law requires a board of education to establish a contingency or austerity budget in the event the proposed budget is rejected twice by voters. What is an austerity budget? An austerity budget limits new expenditures and the amount a school district can spend. Under a new state law, an austerity budget must be capped at the Consumer Price Index or 4 percent over the previous budget, whichever is less. Items that are not included in the austerity budget are employees' salaries, negotiated increases, benefits, insurance, legal services, debt payments and transportation, as well as "ordinary contingent expenses," as defined by the school board. Vote Tuesday,
May 20th
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