Gaze at 2017-18 Budget

An initial analysis of the Amagansett School District’s 2017-18 budget shows a projected increase of $461,000, and voters may be asked to approve another spending plan that is over the state-imposed tax cap, Eleanor Tritt, the district superintendent, told the board of education on Tuesday.

Last year, voters passed a $10.47-million budget, with 63 percent saying yes to a plan that included a 3.74-percent tax levy hike. The state requires 60 percent of voters to approve tax levy increases for school districts that are greater than 2 percent, although the increase cannot be greater than the rate of inflation. That rate remained below 1 percent in 2016, but it has increased to over 2 percent so far this year.

Ms. Tritt told the board that given a sizable increase in tuition, health insurance costs that “continue to skyrocket,” surpassing $1 million, and with state aid expected to decrease by more than $16,000, “we tried to keep all of the projected expenses . . . as well as possible increases, as small as possible.”

The largest increase is in tuition, she said. “We are projecting a sizable increase in the number of tuition students. . . . Within the next few weeks, I hope we get more clarification. If anything, the budget for tuition might increase a little bit more. We also need to get a little more clarification on students who are placed in special services outside the district.”

She said that salaries and employee benefits, which are largely fixed, account for 86 percent of the budget, and she cautioned that many of the preliminary budget’s numbers were based on estimates.

 For example, last year, shortly before finalizing the budget, an adjustment was required to reflect higher health insurance costs, Ms. Tritt said. Therefore, a 10-percent increase projected in the preliminary budget may turn out to be unrealistic. “Ten percent, at this point, we think is a conservative estimate,” she said.

One bright spot, Ms. Tritt said, is an estimated decrease of $60,000 in teacher’s retirement expenses. “But of course, the increase in health insurance outweighs the decrease,” she said.

Numbers in the draft document change daily, Ms. Tritt said, and the proposed budget approved by the board will be released to the public once it has been finalized.

The school has already scheduled an informational meeting on the budget for May 9 at 6:30 p.m. The budget vote will take place on May 16.