The aftershock of the prostitution scandal that’s rocked Governor Eliot Spitzer may affect Cobleskill-Richmondville’s budget plans, Superintendent Lynn Macan told the school board Monday night.
She’s concerned that the controversy may delay school-aid estimates from the state, which in turn would slow down the budget process.
Like other rural districts, C-R depends heavily on state aid for revenue. Coming right in the middle of budget time, the scandal may tie up Albany for weeks.
“There may be a question of whether our Governor today is our Governor tomorrow,” Ms. Macan said. “This may change the landscape.”
Issued recently, Governor Spitzer’s budget proposal would have increased state aid to C-R by three percent. But Ms. Macan believes that increase won’t hold.
After the Governor’s proposal, figures indicated state revenue would be lower than expected.
“It’s making it impossible for the state to keep the obligations it has, let alone have an increase [in aid],” Ms. Macan said.
The legislature is expected to release its proposed budget later this week, and the normal process is for the Senate, Assembly and Governor to negotiate.
But how the process moves along this year is uncertain.
If state government remains in gridlock because of the scandal, C-R will proceed on its budget with conservative estimates, she added.
Without getting into revenues and proposed tax rates, she gave a rough outline of the 2008-09 budget Monday night.
Ms. Macan described it as a “rollover budget” from this year’s $35.4 million budget.
“It keeps everything in place, with some enhancements,” she said.
The district is just going into negotiations with the teachers’ union and will also begin negotiations with the support staff.
“These create more unknowns than in a non-negotiation year,” Ms. Macan said.
She forecast the following changes for next year:
* Salaries, depending on negotiations, up about six percent.
* Benefits, up about seven percent, though “the increase may not be as sharp,” Ms. Macan said.
* BOCES services up four percent.
* A decrease in debt service.
* A 30-percent drop in utility costs because of C-R’s continued work with Energy Education.
“It’s been a real good success story,” Business Manager Howard Anderson said of the cuts in energy costs.
Looking at the budget as a whole, Ms. Macan said all the numbers may change as projected state aid changes.
“If the revenues don’t come in as expected, we’ll have to adjust,” she said. “The most important thing is how this budget moves the district forward. You don’t need to spend more money to move forward.”