State Aid to Bronxville School Projected at $2.4 Million for 2015-2016; Approximately 3 Percent Increase

By Carol P. Bartold
Apr. 8, 2015: The New York State Department of Education has projected that state aid to the Bronxville Free Union School District will be almost $2.4 million for 2015-2016. Coming just in time to finalize the budget before its adoption at the April 21 meeting, the amount of funding is approximately three percent greater than the amount for the 2014-2015 school year.
The Bronxville Board of Education has formulated and discussed a draft $46.4 million budget for 2015-2016, an increase of 0.71 percent over the current year's budget. For that draft, the district estimated that $41.8 in revenue will be funded by property taxes and reserves and projected approximately $2.2 million in state aid.
Non-tax revenues other than state aid are generated by regular education tuition students, special education tuition students, health services provided by the district and billable to private schools in Bronxville, a portion of taxes on properties that straddle the village lines, interest, and insurance. For 2015-2016, those revenues are projected to be approximately $2.4 million.
With salaries and benefits amounting to almost 80 percent of the budget, some attention has turned to high pay for administrators in the region as a prime factor in rising property taxes. The Bronxville district has consistently met the state-mandated two percent tax levy cap since its inception.
For 2015-2016, the board of education will decide whether to apply $850,000 in reserves to the budget and increase the tax levy by 1.1 percent or to apply $735,000 of reserves and increase the tax levy by 1.39 percent.
The New York State Education Department reported that in the Bronxville district, nine administrators earn a salary higher than the cap of $166,672 set by the state legislature for superintendents at the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). BOCES superintendents administer programs in career and technical education, special education, adult education, and professional development for teachers.
Adoption of the 2015-2016 district budget at the April 21 meeting will allow the budget to be presented to voters for the May 19 annual vote and election.
Pictured here: The façade of The Bronxville School.
Photo by N. Bower








