NY Educ L § 1608 (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 2 - School District Organization Article 33 - Common School Districts 1608 - Estimated Expenses for Ensuing Year.

§  1608.  Estimated expenses for ensuing year. 1. It shall be the duty   of the trustees of each common school district to present at the  annual   budget  hearing  a  detailed statement in writing of the amount of money   which will be  required  for  the  ensuing  year  for  school  purposes,   specifying  the several purposes and the amount for each. The amount for   each purpose estimated necessary for payments to boards  of  cooperative   educational  services  shall  be  shown  in  full,  with no deduction of   estimated state aid. The amount of state aid provided and its percentage   relationship to the total expenditures shall also be shown. This section   shall not be construed to prevent  the  trustees  from  presenting  such   statement  at  a  budget  hearing held not less than seven nor more than   fourteen days prior to a special meeting called  for  the  purpose,  nor   from presenting a supplementary and amended statement or estimate at any   time.2.  Such  statement  shall be completed at least seven days before the   budget hearing at which it is to be presented and copies  thereof  shall   be  prepared and made available, upon request and at the school district   offices, at any public library or free association  library  within  the   district  and  on the school district's internet website, if one exists,   to residents within the district during  the  period  of  fourteen  days   immediately  preceding  the  annual  meeting  and  election  or  special   district meeting at which the budget vote will occur and at such meeting   or hearing. The board shall also as a part of  the  notice  required  by   section two thousand three of this chapter give notice of the date, time   and place of the budget hearing and that a copy of such statement may be   obtained  by  any  resident  in  the district at each schoolhouse in the   district in which school is maintained during certain  designated  hours   on each day other than a Saturday, Sunday or holiday during the fourteen   days  immediately preceding such meeting. The board shall include notice   of the availability of such statement at least once  during  the  school   year in any district-wide mailing distributed.3.  Commencing  with  the  proposed  budget  for  the nineteen hundred   ninety-seven--ninety-eight school year, such proposed budget shall be in   plain language and shall be consistent with regulations  promulgated  by   the  commissioner  pursuant  to  subdivision twenty-six of section three   hundred five of this chapter. Categorization of and format for  revenue,   including   payments  in  lieu  of  taxes,  property  tax  refunds  from   certiorari  proceedings,  expenditure,  transfer,   and   fund   balance   information  and  changes  in  such data from the prior year and, in the   case of a resubmitted or amended budget,  changes  in  such  information   from  the  prior year's submitted budget, shall be complete and accurate   and set forth in such a manner as to best promote  public  comprehension   and readability.4.  Commencing  with  the  proposed  budget  for  the nineteen hundred   ninety-eight--ninety-nine school year, such  proposed  budget  shall  be   presented  in three components: a program component, a capital component   and an administrative component which shall be separately delineated  in   accordance  with regulations of the commissioner after consultation with   local school district  officials.  The  administrative  component  shall   include,  but  need not be limited to, office and central administrative   expenses, traveling expenses and all compensation, salaries and benefits   of  all  school  administrators  and  supervisors,  including   business   administrators,   superintendents  of  schools  and  deputy,  assistant,   associate  or  other  superintendents  under  all  existing   employment   contracts  or  collective bargaining agreements any and all expenditures   associated with the operation of the  office  of  trustee  or  board  of   trustees,   the   office  of  the  superintendent  of  schools,  general   administration,  the  school  business  office,  consulting  costs   not    directly  related  to direct student services and programs, planning and   all  other  administrative  activities.  The  program  component   shall   include,  but  need  not  be limited to, all program expenditures of the   school district, including the salaries and benefits of teachers and any   school  administrators or supervisors who spend a majority of their time   performing teaching duties, and all transportation  operating  expenses.   The  capital  component  shall  include, but need not be limited to, all   transportation capital, debt  service,  and  lease  expenditures;  costs   resulting from judgments in tax certiorari proceedings or the payment of   awards  from  court  judgments,  administrative  orders  or  settled  or   compromised claims; and all facilities costs  of  the  school  district,   including  facilities  lease  expenditures,  the annual debt service and   total debt for all facilities financed by bonds and notes of the  school   district,  and  the  costs of construction, acquisition, reconstruction,   rehabilitation or improvement of school buildings,  provided  that  such   budget  shall  include a rental, operations and maintenance section that   includes base rent costs, total rent costs,  operation  and  maintenance   charges,  cost  per  square  foot for each facility leased by the school   district,  and  any  and  all  expenditures  associated  with  custodial   salaries  and  benefits,  service  contracts,  supplies,  utilities, and   maintenance and repairs of school facilities. For the  purposes  of  the   development     of     a     budget    for    the    nineteen    hundred   ninety-eight--ninety-nine school year, the trustee or board of  trustees   shall  separate the district's program, capital and administrative costs   for the nineteen hundred ninety-seven--ninety-eight school year  in  the   manner  as  if  the  budget  for  such  year had been presented in three   components.5. The trustee or board of trustees shall append to the  statement  of   estimated expenditures a detailed statement of the total compensation to   be paid to the superintendent of schools, and any assistant or associate   superintendents  of  schools  in  the  ensuing  school year, including a   delineation of the salary, annualized cost of benefits and  any  in-kind   or  other form of remuneration. The trustees shall also append a list of   all other school administrators and supervisors, if  any,  whose  annual   salary  will  be  eighty-five  thousand  dollars  or more in the ensuing   school year, with  the  title  of  their  positions  and  annual  salary   identified;  provided  however,  that  the  commissioner may adjust such   salary level to reflect increases in administrative salaries after  June   thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred  ninety-eight. The trustees shall submit a   copy  of  such  list  and  statement,  in  a  form  prescribed  by   the   commissioner, of compensation to the commissioner within five days after   their  preparation.  The  commissioner shall compile such data, together   with the  data  submitted  pursuant  to  subdivision  three  of  section   seventeen  hundred  sixteen  of  this  chapter,  into a single statewide   compilation,  which  shall  be  made  available  to  the  governor,  the   legislature, and other interested parties upon request.6.  Each  year, the board of education shall prepare a school district   report card, pursuant to regulations of the commissioner, and shall make   it publicly available by transmitting it to local newspapers of  general   circulation, appending it to copies of the proposed budget made publicly   available  as  required  by law, making it available for distribution at   the annual meeting, and otherwise disseminating it as  required  by  the   commissioner.  Such  report  card shall include measures of the academic   performance of the school district, on a school  by  school  basis,  and   measures of the fiscal performance of the district, as prescribed by the   commissioner.  Pursuant  to  regulations of the commissioner, the report   card shall also compare these measures to  statewide  averages  for  all   public  schools, and statewide averages for public schools of comparable    wealth and need, developed by the commissioner. Such report  card  shall   include,  at a minimum, any information on the school district regarding   pupil performance and expenditure per pupil required to be  included  in   the  annual  report  by  the regents to the governor and the legislature   pursuant to section two hundred fifteen-a of this chapter; and any other   information  required  by  the  commissioner.   School   districts   (i)   identified  as  having  fifteen  percent  or  more  of their students in   special education, or (ii) which have fifty percent  or  more  of  their   students  with  disabilities  in  special education programs or services   sixty percent or more of the school day in a general education building,   or (iii) which have  eight  percent  or  more  of  their  students  with   disabilities in special education programs in public or private separate   educational settings shall indicate on their school district report card   their  respective  percentages  as  defined  in  this  subparagraph  and   subparagraphs (i)  and  (ii)  of  this  paragraph  as  compared  to  the   statewide average.7.  a.  Each  year,  commencing  with  the proposed budget for the two   thousand--two thousand one school year, the trustee or board of trustees   shall prepare a property tax report card, pursuant to regulations of the   commissioner, and shall make it publicly available by transmitting it to   local newspapers of general circulation, appending it to copies  of  the   proposed  budget  made  publicly available as required by law, making it   available  for  distribution  at  the  annual  meeting,  and   otherwise   disseminating it as required by the commissioner. Such report card shall   include: (i) the amount of total spending and total estimated school tax   levy  that  would  result  from  adoption of the proposed budget and the   percentage increase or decrease in total spending and total  school  tax   levy  from the school district budget for the preceding school year; and   (ii) the district's tax levy limit determined pursuant  to  section  two   thousand  twenty-three-a  of  this  title,  and the estimated school tax   levy, excluding any levy necessary to support the expenditures  pursuant   to  subparagraphs  (i) through (iv) of paragraph i of subdivision two of   section two thousand twenty-three-a of this  title,  that  would  result   from adoption of the proposed budget; and (iii) the projected enrollment   growth  for  the  school  year for which the budget is prepared, and the   percentage change in enrollment from the previous  year;  and  (iv)  the   percentage increase in the consumer price index, as defined in paragraph   c   of   this   subdivision;   and  (v)  the  projected  amount  of  the   unappropriated unreserved fund balance that  will  be  retained  if  the   proposed  budget  is  adopted, the projected amount of the reserved fund   balance, the projected amount of  the  appropriated  fund  balance,  the   percentage  of  the  proposed  budget that the unappropriated unreserved   fund balance  represents,  the  actual  unappropriated  unreserved  fund   balance  retained in the school district budget for the preceding school   year, and the percentage of the school district budget for the preceding   school year that  the  actual  unappropriated  unreserved  fund  balance   represents,  and  a schedule of reserve funds, setting forth the name of   each reserve fund, a description of its purpose, the balance as  of  the   close  of  the  third quarter of the current school district fiscal year   and a brief statement explaining any plans for  the  use  of  each  such   reserve fund for the ensuing fiscal year.b.  A  copy  of  the  property tax report card prepared for the annual   district meeting shall be submitted to  the  department  in  the  manner   prescribed  by  the  department  by  the  end  of  the business day next   following approval of the  report  card  by  the  trustee  or  board  of   trustees,  but  no  later  than  twenty-four days prior to the statewide   uniform voting day. The department  shall  compile  such  data  for  all   school  districts  whose  budgets are subject to a vote of the qualified    voters and shall make such compilation available electronically at least   ten days prior to the statewide uniform voting day.c.  For  purposes  of  this  subdivision,  "percentage increase in the   consumer price index" shall mean  the  percentage  that  represents  the   product  of  one  hundred  and  the  quotient of: (i) the average of the   national  consumer  price  indexes  determined  by  the  United   States   department  of labor for the twelve-month period preceding January first   of the current year minus the average of  the  national  consumer  price   indexes  determined  by  the  United  States department of labor for the   twelve-month period preceding January first of the prior  year,  divided   by (ii) the average of the national consumer price indexes determined by   the  United  States  department  of  labor  for  the twelve-month period   preceding January first of the prior year, with the result expressed  as   a decimal to two places.