Chappaqua Schools Ponder Exceeding Tax Cap for SROs, Smaller Classes
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Chappaqua school officials would consider exceeding the 2 percent tax cap for the 2024-25 budget if the community voices support for critical positions that many parents urged to include last year.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christine Ackerman and the Board of Education signaled they would be willing to take the step for the first time since the state instituted the cap in 2011 if the public was willing to support that move.
A projected budget that would exceed the tax cap would include three additional teachers in grades 2-4 to ensure that class size would not exceed 23 students per class in the elementary school and three school resource officers (SROs) so there would be one in each of the district’s school buildings, Ackerman said.
During budget deliberations last spring, many parents urged the board and the administration for an SRO in each school to ensure the safety of their children.
If voters approved a budget above the cap, it would also help the district preserve unrestricted fund balance by reducing its use.
“We’re not looking at this as a long-term solution. We’re not looking at this year after year to present an override budget,” Board President Hilary Grasso said following an overview of the upcoming budget process from the administration at last Wednesday’s board meeting. “But this is the option that gets us to what the community’s been asking for. We feel like it’s important to listen. But obviously, we’re going to need your help.”
A proposed budget that would exceed the cap would have spending of about $142.3 million, and a levy increase of 3.74 percent. The current year’s budget was approved at nearly $138.3 million.
A “roll-forward” budget that would be tax-cap compliant would see about $1 million less in spending, said Assistant Superintendent for Business Joshua Culwell-Block.
Complicating the situation for the district is that presenting a budget that exceeds the cap would require at least 60 percent approval from voters to pass the budget rather than a simple majority.
Last week, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli confirmed that for the third consecutive year, the tax cap, which is the lower of the regional Consumer Price Index or 2 percent, would be at that 2 percent maximum.
“While inflation continues to decline from recent highs, it remains well above 2 percent,” DiNapoli said in a statement that accompanied his announcement last Thursday. “With one-time pandemic relief aid nearly exhausted, school district and municipal officials should carefully monitor cost growth to effectively manage their budgets and ensure they comply with the tax cap law.”
Board members said they would support a budget that exceeds the cap if there was clear support from the community.
“I’m not going to lie, it makes me slightly apprehensive, but that said, we want to be and it’s our job to be responsive to our community and our school community, our parents, our faculty as well as our broader community,” Grasso said. “Our community over the last year or so has been very clearly and strongly asking (for) SROs to be staffed at every building and both our community, our parent community and our teachers have been asking for smaller class sizes, particularly at the lower grades.”
Vice President Cailee Hwang said it will be crucial to listen to the community.
“This is just one creative way to figure it out and we also get to hear voices from our community,” Hwang said. “Whether it’s yeah or nay, I think to provide that opportunity is critical and not just get stuck on the fact that we have to do an override or not.”
If the district decided to pursue a budget next year that is above the cap and it fails to receive 60 percent approval, the district would have the option of putting it up for another vote, revise the spending plan or go directly to a contingency budget.
Chappaqua School District voters have had a long history of passing budgets by wide margins.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
