Consolidation of Government
Consolidation of School Districts - WIll it Work? You decide.
Submitted by JDKJJK on Fri, 06/05/2009 - 3:19pmAs many of you may know consolidation of school districts has been discussed as a means to reduce expenses. However prior to consolidating school districts there must be a comprehensive proposal designed to demonstrate how the proposed consolidation would benefit both the communities involved and better serve the educational interests of the student population.
The uppermost question right now is will a consolidated school district save the taxpayers money?
To keep this example simple only the consolidation of the Brewster and Carmel School Districts is used as an example.
The NYS Report Cards for the Brewster and Carmel School District for the school year ending in 2008 reports the following key information:
Brewster Carmel Total
Enrollment 3538 4693 8231
Avg. Class Size 19-24 20-23 N/A
Teachers 292 344 636
Paraprofessionals 70 197 267
Following are the proposed budgets for the 2009-2010 School year for the Brewster and Carmel School Districts along with the proposed State funding for both Brewster and Carmel:
Brewster Carmel Total
Prop. Budget $82,617,364.67 $104,124,361.00 $186,741,726.00
State Funding $17,039,320.00 $24,625,060.00 $41,664, 380.00
As you can see the State is currently providing approximately 22% of the funds for the Brewster and Carmel School Districts. Therefore the most obvious benefit of consolidating the Brewster and Carmel School Districts will be the increase in State Funding. According to the Reorganization Guidelines a consolidated district will receive funding of 40% for the consolidated districts. However according to the State Guidelines each individual District is still responsible for its long term debt obligations and since both the Brewster and Carmel budgets include debt repayment for long term obligations the 40% State contribution may deduct these obligations from the 40% funding mandate.
The above is a simplistic look at a consolidated Brewster/Carmel School District. The budgeted numbers do not include any possible savings which may be attained through consolidation. To determine if a cost savings would be feasible one must look for a District which would be approximately the same size as the consolidated Brewster/Carmel School District and in close geographic proximity.
According to the 2008 NYS Report Card for the Arlington School District, a district in Dutchess county, the Arlington School District is similar in size to the proposed Brewster/Carmel Central School District. The following numbers are from the NYS Report card for the Arlington School District:
Arlington Total
Enrollment 10226 10226
Avg. Class Size 20-28 20-28
Teachers 732 732
Paraprofessionals 205 205
The following information is from the proposed 2009-2010 Arlington School budget and the proposed State Aid for Arlington:
Arlington Total
Prop. Budget $172,266,965.00 $172,266,965.00
State Funding $55,210,368.00 $55,210,368.00
On its face it would appear the Arlington School District operates in a more cost efficient manner than the current Brewster/Carmel School Districts; current budget proposals for Brewster/Carmel exceed 186 million dollars to educate approximately 8200 students; Arlington’s budget proposal calls for the expenditure of over 172 million dollars to educate approximately 10200 students. It is also interesting to note that Arlington receives 32% in State Aid as compared to only 22% for Brewster/Carmel.
Both Carmel and Arlington provide comprehensive budget information, while Brewster provides account totals only. A basic summary of the account codes follows:
- Items beginning with the number one are for General Support;
- Items beginning with the number two are considered Instructional;
- Items beginning with the number five are for Transportation costs;
- Items beginning with the number nine are for all other costs including long term debt and employee benefits. The Arlington Budget Website provides a detailed explanation for the individual account codes.
The question then becomes would a Brewster/Carmel Central School District be as cost efficient as the Arlington School District? There are obviously some differences. One of them is that Arlington High School has a greater capacity than either the Brewster or Carmel High Schools, therefore both High Schools would have to remain operational under a consolidated district.
Using the various links in this article you the reader can make your own determination as to whether you believe consolidating the Brewster and Carmel Districts makes sense. The question you should ask yourself is where would the proposed savings come from?
NYS Assembly passes government consolidation bill
Submitted by JohnB on Thu, 06/04/2009 - 8:16am
BY JAMES T. MADORE | james.madore@newsday.com
9:33 PM EDT, June 1, 2009
ALBANY - The Assembly Monday overwhelming approved a bill from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to streamline the process of consolidating local governments.
The bill passed 117 to 26, with Long Island's 21-member delegation nearly evenly split.
Supporters of the bill said abolishing some of New York's 10,521 governments would reduce property taxes. But critics expressed concern that fewer towns, villages, fire districts and other special districts would lead to diminished services.
Several lawmakers said they planned to introduce legislation to exempt fire districts, if Cuomo's bill is signed into law.
The government consolidation measure, which was inspired by Newsday stories, had been expected to pass the Assembly despite last-minute lobbying by volunteer firefighters and mayors who oppose it. They now are pinning their hopes on the State Senate, which is expected to take up the bill tomorrow.
"We need relief . . . our constituents are drowning in property taxes," said Assemb. Patricia Eddington (D-Medford). "This bill could be a remedy, though practically no school districts have consolidated and we already have a mechanism in place for that."
Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-St. James), noting that Long Island is home to more than 900 local governments, praised Cuomo's effort to ease the process for collecting petition signatures for referendums on consolidation. Some governments "no longer serve the people" but exist to "support" their employees, Fitzpatrick said.
Still, several Nassau lawmakers criticized the bill, saying it permits counties to run roughshod over small villages and special districts. The lawmakers also called for a higher threshold of petition signatures to avoid a disgruntled minority from pushing through a merger plan.
Assemb. Robert Barra (R-Lynbrook) agreed, saying the legislation has caused alarm among Nassau's villages and special districts. "This bill is a complete sham. It will not save taxpayers any money," he said.
The vote was expected to be closer in the Senate. Last night, the Republican minority met privately to discuss the bill.
Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R- Rockville Centre), said, "We have a number of concerns about this bill, including the amount of savings that can actually be achieved."
The upcoming Weschester Tea Party - citizens move to abolish County Government
Submitted by JohnB on Wed, 03/25/2009 - 9:29pmDave Spano, son of Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, is calling for the abolition of Westchester County government. The rally, known as the "Westchester Tea Party", is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 25th in downtown White Plains. A preliminary event was held on March 5th, and according to the Yonkers Tribune article linked here, around 350 concerned citizens showed up. As a result, some speculate the April rally could have upwards of 4,000 attendees. There have been signs posted all over Westchester County, and a commercial has been aired alerting residents of the event, so I believe that turnout is very well possible. As taken from yonkersinsider.wordpress.com, this is what is being posted about the event by it's organizers:
WESTCHESTER COUNTY TAXES ARE THE HIGHEST IN THE NATION. IT’S TIME THE PEOPLE TAKE ACTION AND SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE TO OUR SELF SERVING POLITICIANS.
TAX CUTS NOW!
My name is Dave Spano, son of County Executive Andrew Spano. I wholeheartedly support Tax Cuts and Abolishing County Government. We can’t do it without your help.
A Rally in support of Tax Cuts Now! and Abolishing County Govt. is scheduled to take place on Saturday April 25th at 12 Noon in front of the County Office Building at 148 Martine Ave. in White Plains.
TO VOLUNTEER OR SPEAK AT THE RALLY PLEASE CONTACT US BY EMAIL - Taxcutsnow09@aol.com.
LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. JOIN THE MOVEMENT.
HOPE TO SEE YOU ON SAT. APRIL 25TH
YOURS TRULY,
DAVE SPANO
Personally, I think it is great that there are other local groups out there working for goals to eliminate duplication of services in an effort to lower taxes, but I am not sure of the feasibility of what they are asking. It is true that in Connecticut, County Government was removed decades ago and they dont seem any worse off. However, according to a blog on the website of New York State Assemblyman Greg Ball, elimination of country government is not as simple as it seems and there are deeper reasons for Westchester's tax problem beyond County Government. As stated in the recent blog post which can be read here, "Taxes will go down when the state stops mandating expenditures for counties, and that day may never come. And taxes will go down when the residents of Westchester demand that municipalities be combined along with school districts to achieve economies of scale , cut duplicative services and eliminate the true bloated bureaucracy." I do agree with Mike Edelman, the writer of the post, that there is an extreme amount of duplication of government in this area causing our high taxes, and I for one would be in support of measures to consolidate these agencies together to eliminate waste.
I hope that more Putnam residents hear of this movement and agree with it, or atleast the idea of consolodiation of government, so that such a movement towards consolidation could be started in this county and have support. Without consolidation, I dont believe we can fix the tax problems we are facing in Westchester, Putnam, and all other surrounding areas.
