By STEPHEN BARTLETT
PLATTSBURGH — Albany lawmakers can play the blame game all they want, school officials say.
In the meantime, their districts and taxpayers suffer the consequences of an order by Gov. David Paterson to delay aid payments.
“He is in a very difficult spot, no question about it,” said Malone Central School Superintendent Wayne Walbridge. “But this just kind of passes the state’s problem on to local municipalities and school districts.”
On Sunday, Paterson ordered the delay of 10 percent of state-aid payments to schools and local governments, blaming legislators for their failure to cut spending to schools and health care, which he said leaves the state $1 billion short of what it needs to pay its bills.
In all, Paterson ordered $750 million in payments delayed, the remainder of which must be paid out before the next fiscal year on April 1, 2010.
At Plattsburgh City School, that means a loss of $150,000 for this month alone, though that is not the last of it, said Superintendent James “Jake” Short.
“Also within the language is included a 19-percent withholding of STAR payments,” he said. “That money was designed to reduce local taxes, and with his proposal that is the equivalent of an additional $146,000.”
And it doesn’t stop there, as Short said the district has yet to receive STAR payments for October and November.
“All of this is essentially changing the rules midstream,” he said. “It draws into question: How will we operate, and how will the state sustain this?”
At the same time, the constant back and forth in Albany has school officials questioning how they should react.
“The story keeps changing out of Albany, and if we make a set of plans based on today’s information, it could change by tomorrow,” Short said.
The loss at Westport Central School is estimated between $30,000 and $70,000, and for a small district with only one section per grade, that is substantial.
“We had already tightened our belts throughout the year to reduce spending as much as possible,” said Westport Central School Superintendent Dr. John Gallagher. “But if (Paterson) makes those aid cuts permanent, it would have a pretty significant impact for running the school the rest of the year.”
It could force the district to dip deep into the unrestricted fund balance, but if the shortfall is too great, such a move would leave Westport at risk if something else were to happen that requires funds.
“We would have to look at programs and see where we could make cuts,” Gallagher said.
He added that withholding aid is against the law, though he admitted Paterson has a difficult task in front of him.
“There is the prospect this could go to court,” said Peru Central School Superintendent A. Paul Scott. “The Legislature and governor already agreed on revenues to municipalities and schools. He has acknowledged he cannot permanently withhold aid. Does he have the authority to temporarily do it?”
Peru School is freezing routine expenditures across campus.
“Many of the state’s rural school districts, Peru Central included, rely on state aid for the majority of their revenues, so the reductions in payments to Peru Central require prompt attention,” Scott said. “It is extraordinary to be this late in the school year and be in a position where we don’t know what revenues will be.”
Malone Central School stands to come up $160,000 short because of the 10-percent cut in aid and will lose another $228,000 due to STAR payment reductions.
Malone’s School Board recently approved a revenue-anticipation note totaling $4 million.
“That allows us to borrow up to $4 million throughout the school year if necessary,” Walbridge said. “Gov. Paterson is saying that in the executive budget he is going to fully eliminate the state deficit, and he is reserving the right to institute further payment delays for the rest of the fiscal year.”
He said that is why the board approved the resolution. The money must be paid back with interest, which will adversely affect the budget process.
“It ultimately gets passed on to taxpayers when we go to next year’s budget,” Walbridge said. “But if we didn’t borrow the money, we would run out of cash.
“The governor is taking the state’s problems and pushing them onto municipalities and school districts, and that is why the board had to pass this.
“It’s a mess.”
E-mail Stephen Bartlett at:
sbartlett@pressrepublican.com
