(MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. / The Journal) — As Americans across the country look to the New York City primary elections in less than two months, New Yorkers outside the city are looking toward Tuesday, May 18, just less than two weeks from now, to the annual school board and budget elections. Mandated by New York State law on education and the New York State Education Department (NYSED) as well as the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA), these elections are held every year for the governance and policy-making branch of every public school district (districts do not have to generally correspond to local city, town, village, or municipality boundaries) outside the Big 5 Conference (the five largest school districts in the state, all in large cities with populations over 125,000 — NYC, Yonkers, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse). Trustees on the school boards for any of the Big 5 districts are appointed by that city's mayor.
For the Mount Vernon City School District (MVCSD) here at home, there are nine elected trustee seats on the Board of Education, of which a third of them (three precisely) are up for elections this year, just like every other year. It is famously apolitical, but as with the similar Board of Trustees for the Mount Vernon Public Library, it is also political in nature as it is a jumping-off point into mainstream city or Westchester County politics, such as the City Council (which is also up for elections this year, Democrats have all five at-large seats). And this election doesn't just elect (or re-elect) board trustees, it also decides if the District's proposed budget for next school year will be adopted, which is a crucial part of how the District works.
For his seven year tenure so far as Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Kenneth R. Hamilton has championed not raising the school tax levy upon families and other community stakeholders; six of those seven school years has resulted in 0% increase on District residents. (The 2018-2019 budget had a 0.89% tax levy increase.) However, Superintendent Dr. Hamilton notes that has had a strain on the MVCSD's reserve funds compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a continuation of their financial problems, and therefore this upcoming eighth school year will have a tax levy increase. He says in a press release: "It is unprecedented in our state, and perhaps even our nation, that a District proposes six budgets in eight years with a zero percent increase in the tax levy, yet that is exactly what we have done during my administration. However, we recognize the negative impact that has had on our reserve funds and must correct our trajectory to continue offering the highest level of education possible for students in our community. [...] We have been very cognizant of the extraordinary impact on individuals in our community who are unemployed or underemployed. However, in order to put the District in the best position possible for long range planning, this budget proposes a 0.5 percent tax levy increase."
Wall Street credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Services at the start of this calendar year in January downgraded the District's financial rating from A2 to BAA1 due to not only the consecutive refusals to increase the tax levy, but also an ongoing dispute with City Comptroller Deborah Reynolds who refuses to hand over the school taxes collected by the City of Mount Vernon on the MVCSD's behalf, which led to last year's move by the District to collect its own taxes independently from the City as well as a renewed lawsuit by the District against her.
Comptroller Reynolds has also been engaged in a related war versus Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard; the Mayor has criticized the City Comptroller for not releasing the full financial information of the City, which led to improper annual budgeting that has been criticized by the Office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, as well as the City Comptroller not paying the outstanding fuel bills for the City's emergency services vehicles (Police, Fire, and Department of Public Works). Mayor Patterson-Howard has said the Comptroller "has all but physically abandoned her job" and has been "playing political games with the lives of our residents", while Comptroller Reynolds said that Mayor Patterson-Howard "cannot handle the job of being mayor of Mount Vernon". The ongoing dispute between City Comptroller Reynolds and the Mayor's Office (which has also seen numerous problems under former Mayor Richard Thomas and former Acting Mayor Andre Wallace) has been under investigation and audit by State Comptroller DiNapoli's office and Mayor Patterson-Howard has called for Governor Andrew Cuomo to step in because the City Council has no ability to impeach and expel Reynolds (due to a provision in the City Charter (Article IV, Section 26) which is in accordance with Section 33(2) of the State's Public Officers Law), as the City Comptroller is a citywide elected position, as well as for Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah to step in for an investigation. Gov. Cuomo has resisted the Mayor's calls for him to step in, citing that it has been more than a century since a New York State Governor recalled a local elected official. County DA Rocah responded to the Mayor publicly stating, "These allegations are serious and significant and we will review them carefully and with the urgency they deserve. Public officials should be held to the highest ethical and legal standards and any alleged abuse of the public trust is a top priority for this office."
Superintendent Dr. Hamilton has noted in Board meetings and public information sessions on the proposed budget that the lowering of the District's credit rating by Moody's will severely impact its financial health until it is able to recover the money. The impacts include:
A lowered Tax Levy Limit, which reduces the MVCSD's ability to levy future taxes and affects the interest when there is a need to borrow funds,
A depletion in reserved funds, which forces the MVCSD to rely on exclusions to make a balanced budget; making it more likely in the future District programs and curriculum expansions would be cut in favor of being able to pay teacher and faculty salaries under the current Mount Vernon Federation of Teachers union contract with the District
The District budget has always in recent history been passed overwhelmingly by the voting public, with little public opposition from the community. Here's the data from the last three years:
Last year's proposed budget of $259,601,834 for the 2020-2021 school year passed with 3,400 votes in favor against 890 votes opposed (unofficial count)
The proposed budget of $256,080,057 for the 2019-2020 year passed by a margin of 926 to 264 (unofficial count)
The proposed budget of $251,979,860 for the 2018-2019 year passed with 1,051 approve to 657 disapprove (unofficial count)
Now, here's the breakdown of the proposed 2021-2022 budget:
Same amount as proposed to (and approved by) District voters last year: $259,601,834
Due to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli deeming funds for education as included in the federal CARES Act and American Rescue Plan as "special aid funding" and NYSED issuing guidance because of this ruling, $9.4 million in the MVCSD's general aid fund must be removed
Most of the budget items that would've been funded by federal aid passed by Congress due to COVID-19 are still general aid expenses and are now being paid for by the District's own reserve funds, which are already minimal
Some of the items had to be cut because it would not be paid for by federal funds; that equals $4.2 million
The MVCSD is also using more than $3 million in unappropriated funds in the budget, which is a small amount of the $16 million total in school taxes the City Comptroller has failed to release to the District, $11 million of which is overdue
The 1982 Triborough Amendment to the 1967 Taylor Law (of New York State) guarantees step salaries (annual pay increases) to teachers and school faculty in school district budgets statewide; if reserve funds have to used to cover for this, programming and curriculum upgrades will need to be cut or reduced
Administrative and capital components of the budget will increase, while program component will decrease (For more information, see the School Budget Language 101 explanation page from the Schuylerville Central School District in upstate New York)
Administrative component would increase from $23,646,130 last year to $23,732,691 this year (an increase of 1.004% or $86,561)
The administrative component includes office and administrative costs as well as costs for salaries for school and district administrators
Capital component would increase from $50,261,662 last year to $54,080,983 this year (an increase of 1.076% or $3,819,321)
The capital component includes costs for salaries and working benefits for custodial workers, service contracts approved by the Board (except contracted school buses, which are in the program component), maintenance supplies and equipment, and utilities
Program component would decrease from $185,694,042 last year to $181,788,160 this year (a decrease of 1.021% or $3,905,882)
The program component includes costs for salaries and working benefits for teachers and general faculty, supplies, equipment and textbooks, extracurricular activities, MVCSD athletics, professional development, and operating transportation (in-District school buses contracted by First Mile Square, LLC of Yonkers)
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