School Budget Passes; Board Incumbents Ousted

Voters in the Somers Central School District in Somers, NY approved the school budget yesterday by a vote of 1474 to 1134, LoHud.com reports. Harvey Kriedberg and Linda Graffitti won seats on the Board of Education ousting long-time incumbents Cheryl Smith and Board President Lucia Vece.


LoHud.com election results are here.  The vote tally for Board candidates is on the Facebook page of the Somers Record.

Budget And Contested School Board Seats Before Voters In North Salem

Residents of Somers, NY who live in the North Salem School District will see their tax rate go up by 5.5% if voters approve the over $38 million budget on May 17.  Three persons are running for two school board seats.  The budget amount increases by 1.92% but the tax increase is to offset a drop in the use of savings and revenues, according to the story in LoHud.com. Eleven jobs are eliminated. Assistant superintendents and principals will get 2 percent raises but have agreed to donate that back to the district.


Read the May 7, 2011 LoHud.com story, North Salem school budget cuts nearly a dozen jobs.
Read the May 15, 2011 LoHud.com story, 3 examine school budget, seek 2 seats in North Salem.


LINKS:
http://www.lohud.com/article/20110507/NEWS01/105070333
http://www.lohud.com/article/20110515/NEWS01/105150369/3-examine-school-budget-seek-2-seats-North-Salem

Review Of The Somers School Budget: The Good And The Bad

The Somers Central School District proposed budget for 2011-12 is over $80 million, an increase of 1.92% from last year's budget, with a estimated property tax rate increase of 5.6%. With an anticipated enrollment next year of 3482 students, Somers spends $23,098 per student.   Here is our brief analysis of the budget, in time for the candidates debate on May 9 and public hearing on the budget on May 10.  Vote on May 17. 

A web link to the Proposed Budget is here and under Links in the right hand column of this blog.   The Board of Education has also issued a Budget Issue of the Trunkline newsletter as well as 2011/12 Proposed Budget Facts. 

The Good

• Within $150,000 of the contingency budget* permitted under NYS law. [See page 6 of Proposed Budget.] 
• Using reserves of $2 million to reduce tax rate increase. 
• The District spends less per student ($23,098) than the average district in both Westchester ($25,131) and Putnam ($23,658) Counties, according to the 2011-12 School Budget Spotlight report by the Empire Center.

The Bad 

• For taxpayers: Projected property tax rate increase of 5.62%, to $141.54 per $1000.  Last year the increase was nearly 3%. [See page 1 of Proposed Budget.]
• For parents/students: Reduction in staff but enrollment continues to increase, impacting class size and programing. This year’s proposed budget eliminates 15 positions.  Last year saw the elimination of 12 positions. [See page 7 of Proposed Budget.]
• For budget hawks: Teachers receiving salary increases of 4.9% to 6.8%**.  The average teacher salary for regular students is over $97,000 per year*** plus benefits. This is more than the salary of the Somers Town Supervisor in 2010, according to the SeeThroughNY web site. 

Notes

* Contingency budget: If the school budget is defeated on May 17, one option available to the Board of Education is to adopt a contingency budget, without need for voter approval. Under New York State law, a contingency budget caps spending at a level based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), subject to certain rules under state law. 

**  Based on 12 test scenarios across various pay-grades under Supplement A and Supplement B of the Contract between the Faculty Association and the Board of Education 2010-2013 at the Faculty Association's web site.  There are 19 different pay grades based on education. Each year, a teacher's salary increases by a step, within a pay-grade.  For 2011/12, each step increases by 1.75%.  For example, a teacher with a Masters Degree at step 3 received a salary of $65882 in 2010/11.  At step 4 in 2011/12, the salary is $70388, an increase of 6.8%.  
*** The average salary was derived from page 15 of the Proposed Budget.  Total salary (Line 100 = $24,118,466) is divided by the number of teachers, aides & assistants, and monitors(213.7 + 23.1 + 11.61=248.41). If you assume all monitors are paid less than the lowest paid teacher ($50,000), then the average salary of teachers and aides is nearly $100,000 per year.   

LINKS:

http://www.somersschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1492346/File/Proposed%202011-12%20Annual%20School%20Budget.pdf?sessionid=a42f22fe7d02cac8242b900f45e13ea9

http://www.somersschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1492346/File/Announcements/WEB%20Somers%20Budget%202011.pdf

http://www.somersschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1492346/File/Budget%20Facts%202011-2012(3).pdf?sessionid=dfcab77dcebc808b19f0f9b23eeb8d9b

http://www.empirecenter.org/Documents/PDF/EmpireSchoolReport2011-12%20main.pdf

http://www.seethroughny.net/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

Public Hearing On School Budget Is May 10 At SMS; Election For Two Board Seats and Budget Approval Is May 17

The school budget makes up over 70% of your property tax bill, so it pays to be informed and to vote.  A public hearing on the Somers Central School District budget is scheduled for May 10 at 7 PM  at the Somers Middle School Cafeteria.  A vote on the budget is May 17th.  A link to the proposed budget is listed on the right column of this blog under "Links".  See the Budget and Budget Facts at the school district's web site.  


In addition, two Board of Education seats are up for election, including that of the current School Board President. Running for the seats on the Board of Education are:  Linda Graffitti, Harvey Kriedberg, Cheryl Smith (incumbent) and Lucia Vece (incumbent). Profiles of the candidates are in April 28 issue of the weekly newspaper the Somers Record, although not available online.


Register to vote by May 12.   


Not all of Somers, NY is in the Somers Central School District.  A small part of the town is within the North Salem School District. About 168 children from Somers attend North Salem public schools. The total enrollment of the Somers Central School District is nearly 3500.


More information about the budget vote and board election, including an Absentee Ballot application, is at the District Announcements page of the Somers Central School District  web page.



LINKS:
http://www.somersschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1492346/File/Budget%20Facts%202011-2012(3).pdf?sessionid=099c9dacc4466fa062f881fdadd1f8fb
http://somersschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1492346/File/Proposed%202011-12%20Annual%20School%20Budget.pdf?sessionid=099c9dacc4466fa062f881fdadd1f8fb
http://somersschools.org/modules/cms/announce.phtml?sessionid=099c9dacc4466fa062f881fdadd1f8fb

Benefit Costs Rise In Somers Town Budget

Increases in benefit costs are the predominant reason that the Town budget in Somers, NY increased this year. NCNLocal.com recently detailed those increases over several years for three towns. Here is what the article says about Somers.

Somers

The town's health benefit costs for its 71 full-time employees, including police, nine part-time employees and its 10 elected officials, have risen about 13 percent between 2008 and 2011. The town paid out $1,700,369 in 2008, $1,809,237 in 2009 and $1,933,735 in 2010 health benefits for employees, elected officials and retirees. All town employees who work more than part-time hours, elected officials and police are eligible to receive municipal health benefits that total $9,440 annually for single coverage and $17,776 per year for family coverage. Employees and elected officials hired or elected after Dec. 31, 2003 contribute 50 percent of health premium increases while employees hired and elected officials elected before Jan. 1, 2004 do not contribute. The town covers all health premium costs for retirees hired before Dec. 31, 2003 while retirees hired after that date contribute 50 percent toward premium increases. Although municipal employee pension costs fell by about 27 percent between 2008 and 2009, from $391,241 to $287,792, they spiked between 2009 and 2010 by 30 percent. The town paid out $409,611 in employee pension costs in 2010. Municipal police and firefighter pension costs, like employee costs, fell between 2008 and 2009, from $17,206 to $9,070, but rose to $14,651 in 2010.

Read the complete story in NCNLocal.com, Somers, Putnam Valley and Peekskill shoulder benefit cost spike.

LINKS

http://ncnlocal.com/ncnlocal_news/article_b9d67c4c-3a49-11e0-8a50-001cc4c002e0.html


Library Trustees: Sunday Not Busy

The Public Library in Somers, NY is closed on Sundays, since January 2011, due to budget constraints and much to the consternation of the Somers Town Board. In a February email to patrons, the Board of Trustees reports that Sunday was chosen because that day is the least busy.

As reported in the Somers Spectator and NCNlocal, the decision by the Library to close on Sundays met with dismay among members of the Town Board. Some viewed the closing as a political maneuver to get more funding, assuming Sunday is a busy day. Others wondered why the Library could not stay open seven days a week with a $1 million budget, especially since the Library's budget had not been cut. The Library did not help its cause, by offering no explanation at the December budget hearing. It was also a no-show at the January 6 meeting, when elimination of Sunday hours was on the Town Board’s agenda.

Here is what the February email to patrons says:

Closing on Sunday was the only viable option because of the fact that it is, by far, the slowest day of the Library week according to circulation numbers accumulated through the Westchester Library System (WLS). Also because, unlike other days of the week, programs on Sundays are held on less than a weekly basis, Sunday closing is the least disruptive. The money we save on heating (or air conditioning) and electricity on that day also contributed to our decision. The use of volunteers, closing during "slow" times or utilizing our budget more efficiently are some suggestions being made. Some of these belt-tightening suggestions have already been implemented over the last few years.

According to NCNlocal, Town officials seemed satisfied, at least for now:

Town Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy went over the Sunday closings with the board and library officials and said she is satisfied with their reasoning, she said. "The board said that Sunday is their lowest traffic day," Murphy said. "When they surveyed neighboring town libraries, many are closed on Sundays." The town is still hoping to work with the library to reschedule employees during the week in order to open again on Sundays, she said.

The email to patrons is set forth below and can be found on the web here.

LINKS


http://somersspectator.blogspot.com/2010/12/library-ends-sunday-hours-town-board.html

http://ncnlocal.com/ncnlocal_news/article_6a79f8f2-0481-11e0-b3ef-001cc4c03286.html

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs007/1102662661497/archive/1104371745291.html

http://ncnlocal.com/ncnlocal_news/article_7814a07a-24c0-11e0-b281-001cc4c03286.html

Reasons for Sunday Closings

As you are by now aware, the Board of Trustees of the Somers Library has reluctantly come to the decision that, due to the limited 2011 budget, we will no longer be able to open the library on Sundays. In order to accommodate those who may have used the library on Sunday, we will now open two hours earlier on Saturdays and stay open two hours later on Thursdays. This was not an easy decision. The Board of Trustees loves our library so much that, we, like other volunteers in their respective organizations in town, put a lot of time and effort into making the library the best it can be. It was a very sad day for us when we realized that we had no other viable option. Slowest Day of the Week Closing on Sunday was the only viable option because of the fact that it is, by far, the slowest day of the Library week according to circulation numbers accumulated through the Westchester Library System (WLS). Also because, unlike other days of the week, programs on Sundays are held on less than a weekly basis, Sunday closing is the least disruptive. The money we save on heating (or air conditioning) and electricity on that day also contributed to our decision. The use of volunteers, closing during "slow" times or utilizing our budget more efficiently are some suggestions being made. Some of these belt-tightening suggestions have already been implemented over the last few years. Scheduled Programs Monday through Saturday, the library hosts myriad events which include book groups for school-aged children, programs for younger children as well as various classes, seminars and workshops open to all ages. Many children who participate in the popular after-school book clubs take the school bus directly to the library to attend these programs. Should the library be closed on any of those days, we would have had to rearrange the scheduling of the events and find a place, within our already crowded building, for the various classes to meet. Use of Volunteers As we all know, it is much easier to say that a decision was wrong than to come up with a workable alternative. Some have suggested we use volunteers. The library is already blessed to have over 50 hard working volunteers who devote their free time to the library. However, a library cannot run on volunteers alone and significant time is needed to train the volunteers on the WLS system. As much as we appreciate and count on their dedication, they are not professional librarians holding advanced professional degrees and it would be irresponsible and potentially costly to leave the responsibility of town assets to those who are not permanent employees. We have a wonderful Director and librarians working for our library who have consistently gone above and beyond what has been asked of them for the sake of the library. These trained professionals are essential to the high level of service you have come to expect from the library. Slow Times Also, those critical of the decision, misleadingly claim that hours should be reduced during "slow" times, when there aren't many patrons in the library. However, there is more to running a library than just checking out books. On a daily basis, more than 100 books from other libraries come in from WLS which need to be sorted and provided to the appropriate patron. Similarly, there are those books that our library lends to other libraries that have to get pulled from the shelf and prepped to be shipped. There is researching and ordering of library materials, programs to advertise, prepare for and run, tracking and vouchering vendor activity, providing tax forms, preparing payroll vouchers, booking the program room (the only conference room in town!), artist set-up, renewals by phone, placing holds and reconciling fines, training and supervising clerks, substitutes and pages, checking in books from the book drop, tending to the copier, bulletin board and display cases, website and e-mail upkeep, updating Twitter and Facebook, attending workshops and meetings, and sorting donations, to name a few. All of these go along with the everyday functions that come with running a not for profit, community based library. Plus, when our overworked and underpaid custodians aren't available, the staff's nonprofessional chores include dusting, vacuuming, windexing, and mopping the bathroom floors as needed! Cutting Budget Lines Another suggestion has been to cut monies from one of our budget lines. However, the library is already operating without 1.5 positions and is under a town-mandated hiring freeze. The library is only provided funding for two part-time custodians despite being one of the busiest public buildings in town and our dedicated staff hasn't received a salary increase in three years. As it is now, we borrow many materials from WLS because we cannot afford to purchase or store new materials. Further, maintenance issues in our town-owned building (broken windows, a leaking roof, a broken toilet in the basement and mold, among other things) present a constant strain on the library budget. Various fundraising efforts by the Library and the Friends of the Somers Library have certainly helped but are not, by any means, a solution to our financial difficulties. The last thing the Board of Trustees wanted to do was to decrease library hours. As all of you know who run a business or take care of your finances at home, we can only work within our budgetary limitations. We believe we have made the best decision and hope that adequate funding will be restored soon. We thank you for your continued support of the library and, of course, we encourage you to continue to speak with us about any issues or concerns you may have by contacting us at somers@wlsmail.org. Our recent community survey showed that we are delivering service at a 96% approval rating! We are here to serve you, the patrons, and take our role as Trustees very seriously. We hope to continue the outstanding services our wonderful Director, librarians, other staff and volunteers have provided. The Board of Trustees of the Somers Library January, 2011.

Somers School District Grapples With Budget In Face Of Huge Property Tax Settlements

When property tax assessments go down, taxes go up. For the Somers Central School District, taxes will go up 5.59%, if settlements with NYSEG and the condo owners of Heritage Hills are approved by the state court. School Board members face tough choices after hearing a presentation by Assistant Superintendent of Business Kenneth Crowley at a recent Board meeting focused on revenues for the budget for next year. A link to the power point presentation,viewable in a web browser, is located here. The settlement have been in negotiation for about two years, according to news reports.

Total property assessments are expected to be down by $26 million, primarily from a $21 million settlement of a decade long dispute with Heritage Hills in Somers, NY. The NYSEG settlement will reduce the tax base by another $2.9 million. Other reductions will reduce assessments by about $2.4 million. Although condo owners at Heritage Hills will each get a refund of about $1500, their taxes will also go up as a result of reduction in assessed value. Still unresolved is a claim by Pepsi Bottling Group seeking a reduction in its assessments.

See these news articles for further information:

Somers schools to lose $26 million to tax assessment cases at NCNLocal.com, and

Heritage Hills condo owners to get tax refunds; $21M assessment cut at LoHud.com

LINKS:

http://board-of-education.somersschools.org/modules/groups/group_pages.phtml?gid=2118090&nid=193996&sessionid=c5d8b073a64e5dff176faecccc2bae0e

http://ncnlocal.com/ncnlocal_news/article_579520c8-2979-11e0-9c81-001cc4c002e0.html

http://www.lohud.com/article/20110202/NEWS02/102020328/Heritage-Hills-condo-owners-to-get-tax-refunds-21M-assessment-cut

Town Board To Discuss Library’s Elimination of Sunday Hours

A regular work session of the Town Board of Somers, NY is scheduled for January 6. Among the agenda items is a discussion about the Library’s “unilateral elimination of Sunday hours.” As posted here on December 12th, the Town Board questioned whether elimination of Sunday hours was the best response to no increase in the Library’s budget for 2011.

The full agenda for the meeting is located here.

Library Ends Sunday Hours; Town Board Wonders Why

Because the Library's operating budget is not increasing this year, the Somers, NY Public Library will be closed on Sundays, starting January 1, 2011. The Library will be open two extra hours on Thursday and Saturday. The full text of the announcement is set forth below.

At the December 2 budget hearing held by the Town Board, some Board members questioned why the Library needed to close on its busiest day. An issue was also raised about whether the Library was allocating staff in an optimal manner during the week. The President of the Library Board of Trustees did not specifically respond to these inquiries, saying that a final decision had not been made.

The Library's announcement issued about a week after the December 2 budget hearing.

==================

Somers Library

Library Hours for 2011 Following the release of the Somers Town Board's Adopted Budget for 2011 and its resultant impact on the Somers Library, the Board of Trustees regrets to announce a change in its operating hours for the coming year. Effective January 1, 2011, the library will no longer be open on Sundays. In order to off set this change, and in consideration of those patrons who work late and can only use the library on the weekends, the library's hours of operation on both Thursday evenings and Saturdays mornings will be increased by two hours. The new library hours will be: Monday 1-8 pm Tuesday 11-6 pm Wednesday 10-5 pm Thursday 11-8 pm Friday 10-5 pm Saturday 10-5 pm

Library To End Sunday Hours; May Lose Charter

Because of budget constraints, the public library in Somers, NY may end Sunday operating hours. As a result, the State could revoke the library's charter.

In an email to patrons on Friday , the Board of Trustees said:

According to WLS [Westchester Library System] in 2009 we were #38 out of 38 libraries in the WLS system with the largest cut in local public funding in the county, a reduction of 9.25%. As a result we were forced to reduce our service hours and thus, we now no longer meet the New York State minimum standards for libraries. This may result in a loss of the funds we receive from the State and cause the State to revoke your library's charter as we no longer meet the State's requirements for serving a population the size of Somers. The Library wants an increase of $30,860 in its budget from the Town and said "the lack of funding will most likely result in closing on Sunday." The Trustees added: "In addition to the Sunday closing, we will unable to buy some of the books, DVDs and other materials necessary to meet our patrons' needs." Set forth below is the full text of the December 3 email from the Somers Library Director and Staff. The text is also posted on the Library's Facebook page. The Town Board held a public hearing on the budget the night before. Statement from the Somers Library Board of Trustees Presented at the Town Board Work Session on December 2, 2010 The Library Board wishes to advise our Library patrons of the likely consequences of the Preliminary Budget approved by the Town Board at their meeting on November 18. Based on current economic conditions, the Library Board put together a very conservative budget proposal for 2011, asking only for the money to enable us to keep our already reduced schedule and stay open 7 days a week. The additional costs totaled $30,860, a small fraction of the Town's $12.4 million budget. Our modest requests included the following: the sum of $15,900, representing the increase in fees to cover our usage of the Westchester Library System (namely the staff and public computers, the software which enables libraries in the county to share their collections, and the transportation of these materials from one library to another.) Additionally, we requested $14,960 for the cost to pay for substitutes to provide minimum scheduling through the day and evening within current operational hours. We advised our patrons upfront of our financial difficulties and they sent hundreds of emails to our Town Board officials in support of our request for this modest increase of $30,860 for the WLS fees and our necessary substitutes. The preliminary budget approved at the November 18 Town Board meeting did not include the increases just described. The Library Board therefore needs to inform you that we have no alternative but to reduce our Library hours. Because of the holidays and the late approval of the Preliminary budget we have not yet had sufficient time to analyze thoroughly the situation and get Library Board approval of a course of action,however, the lack of funding will most likely result in closing on Sundays. Those patrons who are away at work and cannot get to the library before it closes during the week and rely on weekend service will be most affected. In addition to the Sunday closing, we will be unable to buy some of the books, DVDs and other materials necessary to meet our patrons' needs. According to WLS in 2009 we were #38 out of 38 libraries in the WLS system with the largest cut in local public funding in the county, a reduction of 9.25%. As a result we were forced to reduce our service hours and thus, we now no longer meet the New York State minimum standards for libraries. This may result in a loss of the funds we receive from the State and cause the State to revoke your library's charter as we no longer meet the State's requirements for serving a population the size of Somers. The Library Board of Trustees wishes to ask the Town Board one more time to reconsider their decision to reject the modest increase in funding we requested, which would enable us to maintain our present level of service to the community. The Town board should remember that more than 50% of Somers residents are library patrons. Reducing hours because of inadequate funding would be a disservice to all of them and go against their expressed wishes conveyed recently via the countless emails, postcards and comments provided in the library survey.

Town Budget Hearing Tonight

The Somers, NY Town Board meets tonight for a Special Meeting/Work Session. The meeting is dedicated to a public hearing on the 2011 Town Budget. The meeting agenda is here. The preliminary budget is $12, 352, 201 which is an increase by about 1.2 percent but taxes increase by just over two percent with a proposed combined rate of $11.896. The detailed budget is at the Town web site. A pdf version is here.

On November 18, NCNLocal.com reported on the budget in a story by Art Cusano. That news story is here.

Sign Of The Times: Somers Lacks EMT Volunteers

In a August 11 editorial, NCNLocal.com mourns the lack of volunteers in Somers to adequately staff EMT positions. “For the first time in Somer's history, town residents will have to pay for emergency medical technicians to be on call around the clock.”

However, in response, Town Councilman Harry Bolton does not see the issue as unique to Somers and applauds the Commissioners for staying on top of staffing issues.

Read the editorial here. Bolton’s comments appear in the comment section that follows the editorial.

LINKS

http://ncnlocal.com/ncnlocal_opinions/editorial/article_3d267544-a5c0-11df-a5d7-001cc4c03286.html?mode=story

School Budget Vote

School Budget Vote & Trustee Election = May 18, 2010

News From LoHud.com

Somers school budget calls for nearly 3 percent tax hike

May 4, 2010

SOMERS — The district is asking voters to approve a nearly $79 million budget that officials say would maintain programs while spending less than this year. The spending plan for the 2010-11 school year reflects negotiated salary freezes from all staff and other savings that carved $3 million from the current budget. "We are asking voters to authorize the district to spend less money than this year," Schools Superintendent Joanne Marien said. She said in her 16 years with the district, this is the first time she could recall a proposed reduction of this magnitude. To accomplish the cuts, the district plans to eliminate 12 positions.

http://www.lohud.com/article/20100504/NEWS02/5040334/1241/NEWS0222/Somers-school-budget-calls-for-nearly-3-percent-tax-hike