DISTRICT RESPONSE:

Thank you for your email and please see our answers below.     

There have been a few versions of the Superintendent’s Recommended Budget this extended budget season.  WCSD is still finalizing the 2020-2021 budget as we waited on various factors such as when and how the vote was to occur as well as state aid changes and other mandates (ie: continuity of learning, meal distribution, childcare, cleaning requirements, social distance learning).  We are hopeful that the budget presented on Monday, May 11, 2020 will be the version going to the Board for their final review on Thursday, May 14, 2020.

That being said we will focus on the budget that was presented on Monday, May 11, 2020 and refer to it when answering the questions that you have asked.  The 2020-2021 Superintendent’s Recommended Budget as of today (5/12/2020) equals $245,165,373.  It is a 4.35% increase from 2019-2020.  The total increase is $10,214,385.

The increase is detailed in the table below:

The above chart shows the expenditure variances from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021.  

All schools are in the service of providing an educational service to students. Personnel is vital to the field of education.  The District has 9 bargaining units that handle everything from the teaching and support of students to the transportation of students and keeping the facilities clean and safe to the administrative functions necessary to coordinate education for over 10,600 students.  The fact that the majority of the District’s expenses are related to salaries and related benefits is the main bulk of any school district’s budget. 

The cost of contracts negotiated in 2019-2020, and in prior years, affect the 2020-2021 budget. None of these contracts are out of the ordinary as compared to surrounding districts and we are within the range and not the highest or the lowest in our Region and County.  All were negotiated, with careful and thoughtful analysis, within the tax cap and Board of Education approval. The Board of Education authority for negotiation thresholds were respected by the administration as this work was done with Union leadership and extremely fiscally responsible to ensure that increases are within or close to the tax cap.

It is important to note, that neither the Board of Education or the Administration has control over benefits.  The benefits are driven by outside forces such as NYS and health insurance claims that are not within the District’s control.

In the areas of contracted services and supplies, the District has found ways to reduce costs.  Even more professional development facilitated by our educational administrators and teachers, to bring services completed by BOCES back in the district as well as an updated method to ordering and the inventorying of supplies were all evaluated in addition to simple cost cutting measures.  This was a district-wide review of all of these account codes.  No department and/or building evaded the cost cutting and saving measures.

Additionally, the District utilizes cooperative services through BOCES.  These services range from student related programs and services to contracted transportation for out-of-district private school runs to technology lease/purchases to professional development.  The number and amount of services did not increase for WCSD in 2020-2021 but the costs did increase significantly from BOCES for this same level of service.

As the administration will be providing informational sessions to our WCSD community, the presentations going forward will include even more detail and comprehensive explanations that uniquely impact this year’s budget and the crisis that has also impacted the Budget.  We always provide this information through the budget road shows and information made available in the newsletter and on the website.  Again...we should be getting ready for the vote at this time  and as a District we will diligently and tirelessly and ensure that our citizens exercise their right to vote.

Your next question pertained to health insurance.  The total increase in health insurance from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021 is $2,136,667.  There are two types of expenses included in these codes.  The first is the health insurance premiums paid by the District on behalf of both active and retired employees.  Wappingers CSD is a member of the Dutchess Educational Health Insurance Consortium (DEHIC).  DEHIC comprises 21 school districts, 3 BOCES, and Dutchess Community College.  There are over 12,600 participants in DEHIC.  Much work is done by the DEHIC Board of Trustees to ensure that the best health insurance coverage is provided through the most cost effective plans.  DEHIC has been working diligently over the last handful of years to stabilize rate increases due to the budgetary constraints of the component units (ie: districts, etc).  The 2020-2021 rate increase is 4%.  The second expense in this account code is related to Medicare reimbursements.  These reimbursements are paid semi-annually and at rates provided by the Federal government.  The increases from 2019 to 2020 in monthly rates exceeded 7%.  This is a large increase in cost and the number of staff who are eligible due to increased longevity is a contributor to the increase in this account code area.

New York State Teachers Retirement System (TRS) is directly applied to certified staff salaries.  This is also a two fold area of increase.  The employer contribution rate provided by NYS for 2020-2021 is estimated at 9.53%.  That is the percentage rate used by WCSD in the 2020-2021 budget planning.  This is an increase over the rate provided by NYS for 2019-2020 of 8.86%.  So that factor alone would have resulted in an increase in the budget lines.  

As stated above, WCSD provides education to our customers.  The largest area of salaries is in certified staff - teachers, teaching assistants, administrators- and these salaries are impacted by the employer contribution rate for TRS.  These staff are covered by contracts that include negotiated step and/ or contract pay rate increases.  So applying an increased rate of contribution to higher certified salary costs will result in an increase in the budget code.  

The Superintendent’s Recommended Budget for total Instruction is $129,695,397 in 2020-2021 (see page 68 of the budget book).  The difference between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 is $2,843,234. This area contains all of the staffing related to education in our school buildings.  The building administrators and their clerical staff, regular and special education staff, as well as school social workers, school librarians, school counselors, and school nurses to name a few.  Also included in this area are the costs associated with interscholastic sports, extra-curricular activities and all other building level educational endeavors.  This is the largest cost area as it is also the heart and soul of what Wappingers CSD is about.

We have provided a lot of information above as to what the increases can be attributed to in the 2020-2021 Superintendent’s Recommended Budget.  We will now provide a brief explanation of the tax cap and how it IS possible that the WCSD proposed tax levy is within the tax cap compliance.

The WCSD Board of Education has never attempted to pierce the tax cap in ANY of the years since the tax cap’s inception.  It is the District’s responsibility to find a spending plan that meets the needs of the students and is as fiscally aware as possible.  

The tax cap calculation has 8 steps.  The past 5 years worth of tax cap calculations can be found below.  It begins with the tax levy from the previous year and uses various factors to arrive at the maximum allowable levy.

WCSD has never had a year since the tax cap caclulation’s inception in 2012-2013 where it has exceeded the tax cap.  Creating a spending plan that has always been within the tax cap is something that the administration has taken great pride in.  It has also never been the will of the Board of Education for the tax cap to be pierced.  Nothing has changed for the budget plan for 2020-2021.

WCSD has never had a year in which the tax levy and/or budget increase matched the CPI.  Every year we say that the CPI is a factor in the tax levy calculation but that the calculation is 8 steps.

Additionally, the administration includes budget-to-budget and levy-to-levy comparisons in both dollars and percentages from year to year.  Below is a compilation of budget-to-budget for the last 5 years.

The next table is the tax cap calculation for the past several years.  Please take a look at the calculation - at the third line from the bottom called the CY Capital Tax Levy exclusion.

As we have shared each year, this is a major factor in the calculation as this exclusion is an ADDITION to the Capital Tax Levy Limit. The amount every year is driven by the level of capital expenses versus the level of building aid being received from NYS and, as such, fluctuates as you can see from the chart above.  WCSD has not had a year wherein there have been no capital project expenses to offset the building aid from NYS.  This is due to the fact that the taxpayers have approved the much needed capital projects for District infrastructure.  For example, when projects are in progress and not yet complete, there are more expenses than building aid - which gives the District a larger exclusion AND the opportunity to increase the tax levy. On the flip side, as projects come to a close, capital project expenses paid by the District decrease, final cost reports are prepared for NYS and building aid begins to flow to the District, the District will see a reduction in the amount of exclusion AND less dollars to be added back to the tax levy.

Staff attrition is a cost reducing measure used in the Superintendent’s Recommended Budget for 2020-2021.  Since 2013-2014, the District has added many personnel including 19.5 teaching assistant positions in various areas such as special education, health and computer instruction assistants.  Additionally, a number of teaching assistant positions are budgeted annually with the knowledge that these may be needed throughout the school year.  This is not limited to but definitely a concern in the area of special education.  As you are aware if a student requires a service/staff/accommodation the District must provide it regardless of the budget.  As stated above there were positions budgeted for this reason and then never filled due to the absence of need.  The analysis from prior years in this area has allowed for some of the reduction included in the 2020-2021 budget.  Based on the administration’s analysis a reduction in area of TA’s is based on these vacancies and the attrition is how this reduction is being made.  This does not impact special education in a negative way for the 2020-2021 budget.

The final topic you mentioned was FICA and the federal government.  At this time we have heard of the ability to delay the payments of FICA for a specific period of time but that these payments would then have to be made in full at the end of that period.  This would not benefit the employees or the District as deductions would still be taken and then remitted at a later time.  Honestly, based on the District’s size, we are not sure if we would even qualify for this option.  

IF indeed there is a legislative action taken regarding the elimination of payroll tax for employees than the District would certainly take advantage of that.  The administration will certainly share this topic with the WCSD Legislative Action Committee.

Thank you for your questions.  This budget cycle has been filled with unprecedented events.  The timeline has been delayed then compressed.  There is much to do once by the administration once the Board of Education provides an adopted 2020-2021 budget.  This is a very tough year and WCSD will do everything in its power to share the information with the community so that there can be an informed vote on June 9, 2020.

Please remember that the District’s Budget 2020-2021 webpage is always available at https://www.wappingersschools.org/Page/28791.  This page is updated with the information as it becomes available and is updated frequently.