The Mineola School District Board of Education will hold a budget hearing Thursday, May 5, at 7 p.m. at the Willis Avenue School for public input on the 2005-2006 proposed school budget that will be voted on by taxpayers May 17.

In developing budgets the last few years, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli and the board of education have tried to correct decades of budget development that did not include a strong system of allocating funds to a specific budget code. This year, the budget is more comprehensive than ever.

The proposed 2005-2006 education plan and budget calls for a 5.98 percent increase in spending from the 2004-2005 budget. The 2005-2006 plan also calls for a tax levy increase of 4.93 percent over the 2004-2005 budget. The tax levy is the amount of the budget that will be paid for with tax dollars.

Had the district just rolled over its expenses from last year and incorporated this year's mandated expense increases, Mineola would have been facing a 12 percent budget-to-budget increase and 11 percent tax levy increase. However, the board voted to adopt a budget after $3.3 million in expense side reductions were made. Among some of the reductions were eliminating four central office positions in favor of the creation of one deputy superintendent position and the ever-controversial decision to eliminate 27 teacher aide positions.

Even with Mineola having one of the lowest budget-to-budget increases and tax levy increases in Nassau County, passing the budget will not be a cinch.

Judging from comments at Thursday's board of education meeting, some residents are still concerned with the district's spending. One resident said he usually votes for the budget because he supports education. Last year, he voted for a budget that reflected a 4.67 tax levy increase. However, he said when he received his tax bill, the tax increase was 12.8 percent.

This occurrence illustrates the frustration taxpayers and school districts have with the complicated system of Nassau County. The reason for some residents seeing a higher tax increase than what they voted for has to do with reassessment and a shift in the tax burden from commercial taxpayers to residential taxpayers. If a resident's assessment goes up, he or she will see an increase in the share of the tax burden. Also, there has been a recent trend of the tax burden shifting from commercial properties to residential properties.

The Mineola School District is asking for $62,855,901 in revenue from taxpayers to fund the 2005-2006 budget with that revenue to be split up among all taxpayers in the district. The district estimates that the average tax increase would be $266 with Basic STAR.

At last Thursday's board of education meeting, some expressed frustration with some of the district's salaries. The superintendent of schools' salary for 2005-2006 is projected to be $233,559.

Board of education president RoseAnn Buglione defended the superintendent's salary. Dr. Licopoli was hired after an extensive search with the board looking for specific qualifications, she said.

Buglione stated that Dr. Licopoli has re-energized the school district and change its culture. "This board thinks he has done a phenomenal job," she said.

Still, one resident pointed out that the superintendent would get a contractual increase in his salary for 2005-2006 while some of the district's less paid workers are being laid off, such as the teacher's aides. Another criticism was that the budget increase if greater than the cost of living increases some residents see in their jobs.

In defense of the budget, the board has put forth a plan that reflects expense side reductions while keeping all the district's programs in tact. If the budget were to fail, the district would have to make $1.8 million in further reductions. However, Dr Licopoli announced that the reductions would not come from the district's transportation department. That department, despite speculation, would remain intact.