Wyandanch school board approves budget proposal with 3.3% tax hike
Laurie Farber of Wyandanch says of the Wyandanch school budget, "We can't spend another year on austerity." Credit: Johnny Milano
Wyandanch's school board has quietly agreed on a $71.7 million budget proposal that rebuilds the district's tattered sports program, but raises taxes beyond limits set by the state's cap law.
Under the plan, Wyandanch's tax levy — that is, total dollars raised by property taxation — would rise 3.3%. The state's tax-cap system would normally restrict the district to an increase of just over 1%, so a two-thirds voter majority will be needed to approve the extra taxation.
This year's statewide school elections, postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, will be held June 9.
Currently, Wyandanch is operating on a bare-bones "contingency" budget of about $69.3 million, due to local voters' refusal in May 2019 to approve a budget carrying a 20% tax hike. The district is the poorest on Long Island in terms of taxable income and property wealth and was forced last summer to lay off more than 80 employees.
Al Chase, a longtime school business official appointed by the state to monitor Wyandanch's finances, told Newsday during a phone interview that he considered the district's proposed budget for the 2020-21 school year to be reasonable. Chase took on his assignment May 1, and is to serve a five-year term.
"I believe it's a responsible budget for Wyandanch, given the very difficult circumstances they face," Chase said, referring to the district's constrained spending. He said of the proposed tax increase that "while it did exceed the cap, it does not exceed the cap by a tremendous amount."
Some local residents complain the district was secretive in the way it went about adopting its latest spending plan.
Laurie Farber poses for a photo outside of her Wyandanch home, May 15, 2020. Laurie has expressed concerns about the dire necessity for the school district to get it's budget passes, particularly during the time of the pandemic, in order to be fully prepared to accomodate the school's needed resources as the state begins to assess the future of education in NY. Credit: Johnny Milano
Wyandanch's proposal, which would raise spending about $2.5 million or 3.5%, was approved Tuesday afternoon by all four board trustees voting. They included the board president, Shirley Baker, and trustees Ronald Allen, James Crawford and Charlie Reed. Three other trustees did not vote.
Before the vote, board members took the unusual step of amending the meeting agenda to include the budget proposal. The plan did not appear on the agenda in advance of the meeting, nor was it posted on the district website. Baker called for the amendment, after checking with an attorney.
State law requires that documents considered at board meetings be posted in advance "to the extent practicable."
"You can't even find the budget. It must be hidden somewhere," said one longtime resident, Bobby Blassingame, an outspoken civic activist.
The biggest new spending item in Wyandanch's 2020-21 budget is $542,196 for sports. The district describes this as a complete program with an athletic director, coaches, uniforms, equipment and team transportation. The program was gutted after adoption of a contingency program in June, then partially revived in the fall with the help of donated money from Suffolk County.
Another new item is $180,000 for the fiscal monitor, which district officials said was based on a work schedule of 24 hours per week. State officials have said they will contribute $87,500 to help defray expenses. Chase said some of the money may not be needed, depending on the number of work hours he finds necessary.
The plan for the most part doesn't envision other new hires except for in the sports program.
About $229,000 in transportation costs will be cut from Wyandanch's 2020-21 budget, according to a presentation Tuesday by Deodat Somaiah, the district's business official. That reduction of 49% was announced in the spring of 2019.
Wyandanch's current woes result from years of mismanagement and deficit spending as detailed in a series of audits and special reports from the state comptroller's office. That watchdog agency now is reviewing the district's latest budget plan and will release its findings soon, according to spokeswoman Tania Lopez.
In June, state lawmakers approved the appointment of monitors for both Wyandanch and Hempstead, along with $4.5 million in borrowing for Wyandanch to be used in erasing that system's deficit.
Wyandanch trustees are due to vote on the loan package next week. Hempstead's monitor has not yet been named.
Wyandanch supporters say they face a challenge in winning budget passage, compounded by the health and economic crisis and the fact that all voting will be by absentee ballot.
"I know we're all hurting, but we can't spend another year on austerity," said Wyandanch resident Laurie Farber, who runs a nonprofit environmental program for local children.
John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.
