The proposed 2007-2008 budget for the Mineola School District that residents will be voting on May 15 calls for $75,664,471 in expenditures. However, the amount of the budget that taxpayers will have to shoulder will decrease since the state budget that was recently passed calls for more state aid than was anticipated based on the governor's budget proposal.

Under the governor's proposal, the Mineola School District anticipated getting $4,856,725, which was actually $216,564. However, the state budget that was recently passed has the Mineola School District receiving $5,533,420, which is $676,695 more than was projected under the governor's proposal.

The school district will most likely elect to use the additional state aid in the state budget to offset the tax levy, which is the amount to be raised by taxes. The tax levy using the governor's projected state aid was $68,992,102, a 5.74 percent increase over the 2006-2007 tax levy of $65,248,332.

The additional state aid could reduce the tax levy by another $676,695 easing some of the burden off the taxpayers. New York State Assemblyman Tom McKevitt said education was the number one priority on his mind in the state budget discussions. "Until I got these [state aid] numbers around 11 p.m. on Saturday night [March 31], I was probably not going to vote for this budget because Long Island was being severely shortchanged by the governor," McKevitt said. "When I saw them [the state aid numbers], I said you can't vote against this budget. It does more for Long Island schools than we've seen in years. Last year was a great year; this year was even better."

State Senator Craig Johnson was also pleased about the 2007-2008 state budget and what it does for Long Island. "I wanted to make sure that the well-being of our children and our schools were justly represented and did not get lost in the shuffle," Johnson said in a press release. "I am proud to announce that after a series of discussions with the governor's budget team and his senior advisers, we now have a plan that is truly a down payment on the future of our communities."

Superintendent of Schools for the Mineola School District Dr. Larry Licopoli said the board of education would decide how the state aid would be allocated, but he believes it would go toward reducing the tax levy. "We were very delighted that they [the governor and legislators] worked it out so we can get a little bit larger share," he said.

- Joe Rizza