School Budget: What Would A Contingency Budget Look Like?

Hauppauge residents heading to the polls on Tuesday have the choice of whether or not approve the proposed $97.2 million 2011-2012 school budget.

If the budget is passed, residents will accept a 3.4 to 3.46 percent tax rate increase. If not, one alternative school officials will have is to move to contingency budget.

James Stucchio, Hauppauge's assistant superintendent of business and operations, said school officials have three choices if the $97.2 million budget is defeated on Tuesday: put the same budget up for a second vote, offer a second budget proposal in June or move to a contingency budget.

A contingency budget would require district administrators and the Board of Education to trim more than $523,000 from the existing proposal, to reduce the tax levy increase from 3.35 percent to 1.92 percent, according to Stucchio.

"The contingency budget is 120 percent of the change in the consumer price index in the last year or 4 percent, whatever is lower," he said, explaining how the 1.92 percent cap is reached.

The assistant superitnedent said the district would have to cut out all capital construction costs, including $250,000 in the proposed budget to upgrade ’s HVAC system, all equipment and student supplies.

Stucchio said that even after removing those costs mandated under New York State law, school officials would have to find other reductions to reach the 1.92 percent cap.

“There wouldn’t be a budget in all likelihood that would have more programs and services,” he said.

The last time the district’s proposed budget failed was in 2008, when Hauppauge residents rejected the 2008-2009 school budget by vote of 951 to 956, a mere six votes. A revised budget was approved in June 2008.