Budget Information

One of three categories that must be reported by school districts. These expenditures include: office and administrative costs; salaries and benefits for certified school administrators who spend 50 percent or more of their time performing supervisory duties; data processing; supplies; legal fees; property insurance; and school board expenses.

Any portion of a district's fund balance from the previous fiscal year that is applied as revenue to the district's following year's budget. This reduces the amount of money that must be generated by taxes.

A written promise to pay a specified sum of money, called the face value or principal amount, at a specified date in the future (the maturity date), together with periodic interest at a specified rate.

A plan of financial operation outlining the estimates of proposed expenditures for a fiscal year and the proposed means of financing them.

The schedule of key dates that the school district, Board of Education, and administrators follow in preparation, adoption, and administration of the budget.

One of three categories that school districts must show in their proposed budgets, this covers: all transportation capital, debt service, and lease expenditures; legal judgments and settled claims; custodial costs and all facility costs, including service contracts, supplies, utilities, maintenance, repairs, construction, renovation, debt and leasing costs. 

An expenditure that is generally more than $20,000 and results in the ownership, control or possession of assets intended for continued use over long periods of time. Examples: the construction or acquisition of buildings and equipment, initial equipment of buildings or additions or the initial acquisition of library books and research periodicals for a new school building.

An index of prices used to measure the change in the cost of basic goods and services in comparison with a fixed base period. Also called "cost-of-living" index. However, the CPI does not take into account many of the items that cause school district budgets to rise, such as the increasing cost of health insurance, liability insurance and retirement contributions.

Under state law, school boards can submit a budget to voters a maximum of two times. If the proposed budget is defeated twice, the board must adopt a contingent budget with no increase in the tax levy. Under a contingent budget, the percentage of the budget devoted to administrative costs cannot increase from what it was in the prior year's budget or the last defeated budget, whichever is lower, and items considered by the Board of Education to be non-contingent expenses must be removed from the budget.

Amounts paid by the district on behalf of employees. They are fringe benefits, and while not paid directly to employees, are part of the cost of employees. Employee benefits include the district cost for health, dental, life and disability insurance premiums, social security, Medicare, retirement, and tuition reimbursement.

At its simplest, an equalization rate is the state’s measure of a municipality’s level of assessment. This is the ratio of total assessed value to the municipality’s total market value. The municipality determines the assessed value; the market value is estimated by the state. Equalization rates are established by the New York State Board of Equalization and Assessment. School districts that comprise more than one city, town or village must use the equalization rate to determine the tax rates for each municipality. The purpose is to bring some semblance of equity to how the taxes are distributed in any one school district, so that ideally a home with a full market value of $100,000 in one community will pay the same taxes as a home with a market value of $100,000 in the next community, regardless of how those two homes are assessed.

Payment of cash or transfer of property or services for the purpose of acquiring an asset or service.

A fiscal year is the accounting period on which a budget is based. The New York State fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31. The fiscal year for all New York counties and towns and for most cities is the calendar year. School districts in the State operate on July 1 through June 30 fiscal years. 

A fund balance is created when the school district has money left over at the end of its fiscal year from either under spending the budget or taking in additional revenue. Part of the fund balance (appropriated fund balance) may be applied as revenues to the district's following year budget. A portion may also be set aside (unappropriated fund balance) to pay for emergencies or other unforeseen occurrences. 

The Tax Levy Limit plus allowable exemptions results in the maximum allowable tax levy, which is the highest tax levy a district can propose and still only need a simple majority to pass. 

One of the categories that must be presented in the district's proposed budget, this portion includes: salaries and benefits of teachers and supervisors who spend the majority of their time teaching; instructional costs such as supplies, equipment, and textbooks; and transportation operating costs.

The spending plan developed by school administrators prior to Board adoption. School districts are required by New York State to show their proposed budgets in three categories: administrative, program, and capital. 

A reassessment is a systematic analysis of all locally assessed properties (both commercial and residential) to achieve a stated uniform percentage of value. The goal of a reassessment is to assure that each assessment reflects current market prices and that each property owner pays only their fair share of the tax burden. With a reassessment comes a shift in the tax burden to those whose property values have risen faster than average. This process does not result in a windfall of new revenue for the town, county, or school district nor does the reassessment change the total amount of taxes that the school district must collect; it merely redistributes who pays them. In theory, rising assessments will result in a decrease in the tax rate (everything else being equal), as there is now a larger tax base from which the school may generate the same amount of tax dollars. If a property owner's assessment doubles, their tax bill will not double - in fact, it may remain about the same, increase slightly, or even decrease depending on the final tax rate. 

Sources of income financing the operation of the school district. 

The New York State School Tax Relief (STAR) Program provides exemption for school taxes for all owner-occupied, primary residents, with a combined income of less than $500,000. Senior citizens with combined incomes that do not exceed $62,200 may qualify for an enhanced exemption. 

State Aid is additional money that the state gives to districts, to be used in different areas, such as lowering the tax levy, etc. Until the state passes its budget, the district does not know exactly how much to expect in state aid, but school districts are still required to present their budgets to voters on the third Tuesday in May. To meet that mandate, the district had to estimate its state aid revenues.

The New York administration department that oversees public elementary and secondary education.

Consumable materials used in the operation of the school district including food, textbooks, paper, pencils, office supplies, custodial supplies, material used in maintenance activities and computer software.

The personnel, activities, and programs that enhance instruction and provide for the general operation of the school district. This includes attendance, guidance, and health programs; library personnel and services; special education services provided by speech and language pathologists, physical therapists and occupation therapists; professional development programs, transportation, administration, buildings and ground operations, and security.

Assessed value of local real estate that a school district may tax for yearly operational monies. 

The legal process by which a property owner can challenge the real estate tax assessment on a given property in an attempt to reduce the property's assessment and real estate taxes.

Total sum to be raised by the school district after subtracting out all other revenues including state aid. The tax levy is used to determine the tax rate for property owners in each of the cities, towns or villages that makes up a school district.

The threshold dictated by an 8-step state formula that determines the highest tax levy BEFORE exemptions that a school district can propose and still need a simple majority to pass.

The amount of tax paid for each $1,000 of assessed value of property. In districts that cover just one municipality, the tax rate is figured simply by dividing the total assessed property value by 1,000 and then dividing that again into the tax levy (the amount of money to be raised locally). In districts that encompass more than one municipality, the formula for figuring the tax rate is more complicated. It involves assigning a share of the total tax levy to each municipality and applying equalization rates to take into account different assessment practices. 

A school district is permitted to keep up to four percent of its fund balance in an unappropriated fund. This money may be used to pay for emergency repairs and other unforeseen occurrences.