‘Fiscally in Stronger Shape’
The Sag Harbor School District on Tuesday adopted a 2016-17 budget of $38,773,988, an increase of about 3.25 percent over the current budget. The tax levy will increase by 2.98 percent to $35,065,000, which is under the 3.2 percent limit imposed by the state.
Along the way, the district held public workshops approximately every other week. Katy Graves, the Sag Harbor superintendent, and Jennifer Buscemi, the business administrator, zeroed out every budget code and, with the help of the school principals, teachers, and other administrators and staff, rebuilt the budget from the ground up with fresh numbers for the district’s needs.
While other local districts realized savings after veteran teachers took early retirement options, Sag Harbor favored retaining its longtime work force and found other ways to make room in the budget.
“That’s a really strong investment in people,” District Superintendent Katy Graves said. “A lot of times, people rush to reductions in work force, but you don’t know what your population is going to do, so it’s really smart to stabilize your workforce and find captures in other places.”
Ms. Graves said she felt good about the end result.
“Over the last few years we were able to move to a line-by-line budget process where we could look very clearly at exactly where our money is going,” she said. “We were able to do these small captures throughout the year. We were able to stabilize and maintain all of our programs for our students . . . and when we project for next year, we know fiscally we’re in much stronger shape.”
The public will vote on the budget on May 17, and also on a bond referendum to purchase the former Stella Maris Regional School, which the district has determined will likely be used to house its prekindergarten program, early childhood special education services, and some district offices. The total amount on the table is $10,233,500, which includes the $3.3 million purchase price for the property, necessary upgrades to make the facility compliant with state codes, and outfitting the building for its new uses.