The Massapequa Board of Education, last Thursday, approved a resolution to levy an additional $230,000 in taxes from what was presented to voters in May.

Due to a gap in what the district projected that they would receive in state aid and what they actually received, of $50,000 and unforeseen staffing requests due to an increased enrollment, the school board passed a resolution that will raise the tax rate increase of 8.03 percent, as projected in the budget brochure, to 8.4 percent.

This .37 percent increase from what taxpayers expected will raise the tax rate $3.77 per 100 assessed value from last year's budget, $0.17 more than that which was proposed in May. According to Alan Adcock, business administrator for the district, the average homeowner will see an additional $11.25 on their tax bill from what was expected.

Rather than actually taking the additional money from the taxpayers, district administration explained that what they are doing is not returning as much of the surplus from last year's budget as they had planned.

Every year the school district has an unappropriated fund balance, or surplus, and that is where the $230,000 will be coming from. At the school board meeting, Adcock explained that Massapequa's policy of returning nearly all of the unappropriated funds is unusual on Long Island and noted that many districts save that money as an emergency fund. The state allows school districts to allot 2 percent of the previous year's budget as an unappropriated fund balance, which in the case of Massapequa would have equaled $1.6 million for this year.

Because of the district's record of not keeping that fund balance, they are currently in a very tight financial spot, made even more difficult because of the $50,000 shortfall in state aid and the additional $180,000 needed for an increase in staffing.

Dr. Lawrence Pereira, the new superintendent for the Massapequa School District, noted that the board did an excellent job in preparing this year's budget and in trying to keep the tax rate down as much as possible but that due to unforeseen circumstances if the tax rate is not increased the district could end up in an extremely difficult financial position. "My only caution is that if you don't do that, I think you're dangerously close to overspending the budget this year and I think you're going to have to think about, from this moment on, saying 'no' to programs that you may find very desirous to the board and that members of the community may want and expect from the board," said Pereira. He went on to tell the board, "You were extremely vigilant in preparing last year's budget and in that effort you really left the cupboard bare. I believe that you have an opportunity now to add."

Administration had originally suggested to the board that they levy an additional $550,000, which would have raised the amount the average taxpayer would have paid, by approximately $28 on their tax bill for the year from what was expected. The suggestion was that the board approve the additional money, keeping in mind that even though it is only August they are already having financial difficulties and if they had the additional $270,000 surplus they would be prepared if any emergencies arose throughout the year. One example of a problem that could occur, that Adcock mentioned, was any sort of system failure on Jan. 1, 2000. Without a fund balance, the district would have to take out a loan to make any unanticipated repairs. Pereira stated, "We will, this year, spend a significant amount of money on interest paid for debt. That's not good planning and that's all part of never having any reserves at the beginning of the year...we're concerned that our picture is not a good one."

Several board members expressed serious concerns about levying even more taxes, in a year when the tax rate increase was already extremely high. Trustee Robert Thompson stated, "I am strongly opposed to moving up above the tax rate that is in the Insight [budget brochure]. I realize that the tax rate is not something to be voted on but I do think that the pattern the board has established in the past has stayed pretty close." District administration does not have any memory of a tax rate increase such as this, above what was proposed with the budget, occurring in recent years. Trustee Arlene Martin noted that she had real reservations about raising the tax rate in a year that the board had been nervous about the budget passing in the first place because the tax rate increase was so high.

Pereira stated that this was an extremely rare occurrence but noted that with the additional staffing requirements and the shortfall in state aid the district was already in trouble. Board President Christine Nottonson stated, "We are already in the hole $180,000 [because of additional staffing requirements] so we might want to consider making that money up." The board voted to approve the additional money to make up that deficit and the shortfall in state aid of $50,000 but would not approve any additional money to go into an unappropriated fund balance.

Adcock noted, following the meeting, that even with the tax rate increase, Massapequa will most likely remain in the lowest quarter of tax rates in Nassau County and the lowest among similar districts.