Tonight: Budget Workshops Begin for Nanuet

Schools everywhere have started the difficult task of creating the following year's budget. Because of a tax levy cap of 2 percent, schools are struggling to stay below that cap while maintaining quality of education.

However, schools are finding that increasing fixed costs and reduced outside funding are forcing them to make serious cuts within the district. For the Nanuet Schools, they're looking at  in anticipated cuts because of the 2 percent tax levy cap.

In an earlier Patch article, the Nanuet schools addressed a common public misunderstanding about the 2 percent cap. The 2 percent tax levy increase does not equal a 2 percent tax rate increase limit. The schools decide on the tax levy, which is capped at 2 percent. Then other variables—out of the school's control—causes the final tax rate to end up more than 2 percent. Those variables include the equalization rate, the Pfizer settlement, homestead, non-homestead, etc ... 

The Nanuet School District is unfortunately looking at to cut the budget. Tonight's budget workshop will focus on general support, buildings and grounds, transportation, benefits and revenue. Tuesday night's workshop will look at staffing and instruction.

Although they can make changes until April 21, all New York schools had to report to the state by March 1 what their levy increase would be with the exceptions figured in and if they planned to exceed it, which would require the 60 percent approval by the voters.

Nanuet reported 0.64 percent.