Sachem Facing Early $16 Million Budget Deficit

Note to the Sachem community: this year's budget process will be bleek and daunting, so get ready for a long ride.

At Wednesday's Sachem Central School District Board of Education meeting, preliminary budget talks began. The district is facing an early $16.2 million deficit for the 2012-13 budget.

There is a projected revenue shortfall of $10.6 million and $5.6 million in additional expenditures adding up to the initial deficit.

"Last year we were projecting very similar numbers," said Bruce Singer, Sachem's assistant superintendent for business. "The economic conditions worsened, it's not getting any better." 

Singer said they are expecting similar state aide numbers from last year.

For now, district officials are looking for direction from board trustees on the next step to take. Some trustees asked for numbers that reflect the 2 percent tax cap that will be in affect.

"That 2 percent tax cap was a campaign promise that I don’t think anybody understood the ramifications of," said Sachem Board President Rob Scavo, referring to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The bulk of Sachem's budget problem last year with the state began when the district was cut $14 million in state aid, the highest total in New York. Because Sachem held its tax rate so low for a number of years, it lost aid money.

"The fact that we were so fiscally responsible resulted in us receiving a large cut," Scavo said.

Sachem Superintendent James Nolan said he and his fellow administrators and the school board will work hard to get as much information about the budget process to the community early and often.

Board trustee Mike Timo reflected on the many successful programs and accomplishments in the district to start the school year, as proof of how important this process is.

"We have a lot of work to do," he said, "but we have a lot of great programs going on with a lot of good kids doing good things."

The next regular school board meeting will be Wednesday, December 21 at 7:30 p.m., while a work session will be held Wednesday, December 7 at the same time.