By Carol P. Bartold, Senior Reporter

Mar. 21, 2018: The Bronxville Board of Education anticipates adopting a 2018-2019 budget of $48,222,978 at its March 22 meeting. The budget, which represents a 2.32 percent increase over the current year budget, will be presented to voters for approval at the May 15, 2018, annual budget vote and board election.

Primary drivers in formulating the school budget are the New York State-mandated 2 percent tax levy cap, set at the lower of 2 percent and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and enrollment figures. The CPI currently stands at 2.2 percent.

Although the tax levy cap has a stated limit, school districts calculate an allowable tax levy, taking into consideration such factors as debt service net of state aid and a tax base growth factor supplied by New York State, which is applied to the current academic year budget. That calculation results in an allowed tax levy cap of 2.64 percent for the Bronxville district.

The proposed budget accounts for a $500,000 fund balance appropriation to reduce the tax levy, which will result in a 2018-19 tax levy increase of 1.97 percent rather than the calculated 2.64 percent. The Bronxville Board of Education has made such appropriations to reduce the calculated tax levy for several years. For taxpayers, this translates to an estimated tax rate of approximately $13.37 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The fund balance appropriation puts the proposed 2018-19 budget at approximately $276,000 under the allowed tax levy cap.

Approximately $42.8 million in property taxes and $5.4 million in revenues other than property taxes will fund the proposed 2018-2019 budget. Projected New York State aid of approximately $2.5 million, special education tuition of $1.4 million, the $500,000 fund balance, and $450,000 from health services provided to private schools within the Bronxville district are the major sources of other revenues. Unrelated to the budget adoption and approval process, last week, Bronxville residents voted to approve a tax-neutral $24.8 million bond project to finance capital improvements to the school that would replace current debt that will expire in 2020. The school explains on its website that the project "would allow the district to absorb the repayment of the new debt into its budget without causing additional property tax growth." 

Dan Carlin, assistant superintendent for business, noted that the Bronxville district is experiencing a plateau in enrollment. From a high of 1,718 students enrolled in 2014, the district has seen a steady decline. Current enrollment stands at 1,660 students. The district projects that 1,628 students will enroll for the 2018-2019 academic year. Carlin noted that, as the economy has improved, more students have opted to attend private schools.

With salaries and benefits making up approximately 75 percent of the budget, and locked-in contractual cost obligations accounting for another 11 percent, the district and board are left with only 14 percent of the budget to account for items such as equipment, supplies, and textbooks.

“The administration comes to the board with what we feel we need rather than what we want,” Carlin said.

Pictured here:  The Bronxville School.

Photo by A. Warner