Hampton Bays Schools Superintendent Lars Clemensen unveiled his proposed $49.5 million 2016-17 budget on Tuesday night, a plan that would increase overall spending by about $220,000, or less than half a percentage point, over the current year.
He also revealed at the same meeting that $162,639 must still be cut from his budget in order for the district to stay below the state-mandated cap on tax levy increases. Mr. Clemensen’s proposed spending plan, as is, would come with a $43.79 million tax levy, which is only about 0.12 percent higher than this year’s $43.74 million tax levy.
To achieve those cuts, Mr. Clemensen said he is hopeful that three or four of the district’s estimated 10 teachers who are up for retirement opt to end their tenure. Additionally, he said the board will be discussing ways to trim the district’s transportation and security costs, as well as scale back on some athletic programming, at the next budget workshop. That meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 23, at the Hampton Bays High School and starts at 6 p.m.
Larry Luce, the business administrator for Hampton Bays, said Tuesday that he thinks the district is on solid footing considering it is still early February.
“Actually, the 162 is not bad,” Mr. Luce said, referring to the amount of money that would have to be trimmed for next year’s budget to stay below the tax cap. “At this time two years ago, we were looking at $900,000, so this isn’t bad.
“We could make some cuts in some places, but as I was saying to Lars, I’m still playing with numbers every day,” he added.
He also noted that an increase in state aid could help the district offset some of those costs. Mr. Luce said that, ideally, the district would receive about $5.3 million in state aid next year. He also said state aid for this year is still coming in, so he could not say how much Hampton Bays will receive when it is all counted.
Mr. Luce said he is waiting to see how much money the district gets in state aid to determine the projected tax rate for next year. Currently, the tax rate stands at $13.34 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
The board must adopt next year’s budget by April 1.
