NY Educ L § 1716 (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 2 - School District Organization Article 35 - Union Free School Districts 1716 - Estimated Expenses for Ensuing Year.

§  1716.  Estimated expenses for ensuing year. 1. It shall be the duty   of the board of education of each 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  board  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 four 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 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 board of education, 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 board of   education  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 board of education 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 board 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 board of education 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 four of section sixteen hundred   eight 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 of 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 paragraph and paragraphs   (i) and (ii) of this subdivision 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 board of education 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,  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  and  the percentage of the school   district  budget  for  the  preceding  school  year  that   the   actual   unappropriated unreserved fund balance represents.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 board of education, 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.