2021-2022 Budget Preparation

No, thanks to the support of the community to increase our tax levy last year, along with advocacy to restore the District’s foundation aid formula, we are able to stay within the tax cap for the current year.

Yes, however, we are still waiting for more information on how this will be handled. At this time, it appears to be a credit on your income taxes.

As you may recall, in the latest New York State budget, the governor reinstated the Property Tax Relief Credit that we received from 2016-2019, but went without in 2020. The new credit was renewed for taxable years 2021, 2022, and 2023. The credit is for homeowners with incomes up to $250,000 to lessen the burden of property taxes. The credit is capped at $350 per STAR-eligible household based on the state’s formula. We are still waiting for more information on how this will be handled, but at this time, it appears to be a credit on your income taxes.

Right now it is hard to determine the actual tax rates since we do not receive the tax assessments until July. As of right now, the District is estimated that the rate per thousand will increase from $17.08 to $17.78.

The increase in taxes are as follows:

  *Estimated tax increase. The tax rate increase is expected to be less.

The District is still significantly behind in staffing several major positions such as mental health, reading intervention, special education, technology, and cleaning. The combination of increased state aid and increased tax levy will ensure these services continue to be offered to students in future years, since these are both recurring revenues.
 

The School Tax Relief (STAR) exemption (Real Property Tax Law Section 425) provides a partial exemption from school taxes for most owner-occupied, primary residences. It was signed it into law on August 7, 1997. The eligibility requirements are set forth in Real Property Tax Law Section 425(3) (attached), and are as follows:

1. Homeowner has an income of $500,000 or less, 
2. who own and live in their one-, two or three-family home  

https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/articles/2019/kevin-thomas/school-tax-relief-star-program-faq

The older version, which some may be grandfathered into, is an exemption that appears on your school tax bill, while the new version of the exemption comes in the form of a check from New York State directly to the homeowner on or around the due date of your school tax bill.
The amount of your STAR exemption is dependent on where you live and your age (must be 65 years or older to qualify for the Enhanced STAR).

Please see the chart below to see your maximum STAR exemption:

Regulations for the latest round of stimulus require these funds to be recorded in the Special Aid Fund, which is separate from the General Fund. The Special Aid Fund is the set of books that is used for grants; therefore the stimulus funds will be handled the same way as grants.

The District is still determining the use of stimulus funds, and we are waiting for more guidance from New York State on how these funds are to be used. The two largest priorities of the stimulus funds are to address learning gaps caused by the COVID crisis through extended school day or extended school year (summer enrichment) opportunities, and to increase technology in the classrooms.

It is anticipated that Victor Central School District will receive approximately $7 million over the course of three years. We are still waiting on the final numbers. 

If the budget does not pass, then the Board of Education will need to present a second budget to the community. If the second budget does not pass, then the Board will need to adopt a contingency budget that is significantly smaller than the proposed budget and would result in program reductions and cuts. 

Reserves are “savings” accounts set aside for specific purposes. These “savings” accounts are intended to preserve the tax levy by offsetting large expenditures with unused contingency funds from prior budgets. During tough budget years, the District can utilize reserve funds to keep tax increases minimal.  
 

The current reserve is expiring and will be fully expended by the end of the current capital project. Part of the District’s long-term planning is to establish a “savings” account, or a reserve, to help minimize the amount the District will need to borrow on the next capital project. The goal is to pay a larger portion of the project with existing funds so that the debt payment is equal to the aid on the project. This will help preserve future tax rates.

A technology reserve is another version of a capital reserve that is restricted for technology purposes only. This is a “savings” account used to protect the tax levy. In challenging budget years, the District can utilize the technology reserve to supplement the budget for technology related expenses. 

The District currently budgets between 3-4% in contingency funds for emergencies. That ranges from 3-4%. At the end of the year, if we do not need to use those funds, the District can assign them to reserves. Once the monies are in a reserve, they are restricted for that reserves purpose.