School district seeks community input on 2024-25 budget development

CAZENOVIA — On March 20, the Cazenovia Central School District (CCSD) held a community discussion on the challenges facing the district this budget season and potential options to close a $1.85 million budget gap for the 2024-25 school year.

The event drew approximately 195 attendees, including students and parents, faculty and staff, and people not directly affiliated with CCSD.

During a district presentation, Superintendent Christopher DiFulvio explained that the meeting was organized in response to requests for increased community involvement in the budget process.

“I don’t want people to panic,” he said. “[We’ve] had budget gaps that we’ve been talking about at public meetings for several years. At this time, now, we are engaging the community, and I hope we can do this again next year as well.”

DiFulvio added that the public input received will help the district provide the board of education with a proposed budget that truly reflects the priorities, values, and expectations of the community.

“We are committed to sustaining our excellence and preserving our identity,” the superintendent said. “We’re doing everything we can to retain our high-performing, high-quality staff and to stay competitive. And we know the decisions that we make will have long-term impacts on our students, staff, and community. We are staying true to who we are by aligning our budget with our mission, vision, and goals and our strategic plan. . . It’s of the utmost importance that we continue to be fiscally responsible. We owe it to our taxpayers, now and in the future.”

Budget challenges

DiFulvio discussed the fluid and complex nature of the annual budget process and offered insight into some of the current budget challenges.

The budget consists of instructional costs, administrative costs, employee benefits, facilities and operations, special education, extracurricular activities, debt service payments, and a contingency fund.

According to Assistant Superintendent/School Business Official Thomas Finnerty, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2024-25 executive budget proposal removed the “Hold Harmless” piece of the state foundation aid formula, resulting in a $614,000 reduction in foundation aid for CCSD.

DiFulvio noted that a cut of that amount would dramatically decrease the district’s estimated revenues for the 2024-25 school year.

“That is part of the impact that we are seeing,” he said.

“Hold Harmless” is a provision that ensures districts don’t see a decrease in foundation aid funding compared to the previous year.

“Previously, the state said, ‘Every year, we’re going to guarantee you this amount of money, regardless of the changes in the student numbers,’” DiFulvio explained. “Even with fewer students, it didn’t matter. However, the governor has now taken that away. So, if fewer kids attend the school, we might lose some funding. We don’t know, and we might not even know until April 8, what our exact amount from the state government will be. That’s why I talk about it being a fluid process. Without this protection, our school needs to be cautious with spending, and there might be less money available, impacting resources like new books and fun activities for kids.”

DiFulvio also acknowledged the challenges of rising expenses, such as inflation on goods and services; contractual salary increases; and benefit cost increases.

2024-25 budget outlook

“We have been fiscally responsible as a school district,” said DiFulvio. “The board of education has done an excellent job at preserving money into a fund balance to put us in a fiscally sound position.”

The district has already gone through its budget line-by-line and made an estimated $700,000 in position cuts and financial reductions.

The following actions are assumed for next year: cutting one foreign language position, cutting one library aide position, cutting one elementary teacher position, cutting one instructional coach position, cutting one academic support position, leveling out all BOCES expenses, cutting $100,000 from the technology budget, and combining athletic teams when it makes sense.

The district is also already proposing to use $500,000 in fund balance, which DiFulvio compared to a savings account.

Fund balance results from spending less than the district takes in.

“When we spend less, we can take more in, so every year, we will try to underspend our budget,” DiFulvio said. “[Every year], we get one shot; we can’t go back out and ask the taxpayers for more money, so the goal has got to be underspending.”

Even with the $500,000 in fund balance and $700,000 in budget reductions, the district is still facing a $1.85 million gap between its expenses and revenue based on the governor’s 2024-25 budget proposal.

DiFulvio explained that if the district had reduced its expenditures by zero and assumed no fund balance, the gap would be around $3 million.

The district has also implemented a spending freeze on non-essential expenses.

CCSD’s calculated tax levy limit for the 2024-25 school year is 4.4 percent.

If the district’s proposed tax levy increase is within that limit, a simple majority of voters (50 percent + 1) is needed for budget approval. If the proposed tax levy increase exceeds the tax levy limit, a supermajority of voters (60 percent or more) would be required for budget passage.

When discussing the tax levy, DiFulvio remarked that the district’s tax levy increase last year was 6.9 percent. The tax increase experienced by residents, however, was variable and based on many factors.

For example, a home assessed at $189,000 in the Town of Cazenovia saw an increase of 5.36 percent or $169.87, while a home assessed at $189,500 in the Town of Fenner saw an increase of 2.93 percent or $106.19.

Potential budget options

There are four ways to close the $1.85 million gap: cutting expenses further, increasing revenue through the tax levy, using fund balance, or doing a combination of those options.

“At this point, tonight, I just want the people in the community to know that all options are on the table,” said DiFulvio. “What you see are merely proposals, and we are asking for your input.”

He also noted that all the options presented are very generalized.

“It is highly unlikely that any of these five options will be what the board of education adopts or what the district puts in front [of the board],” he said. “It will probably fall somewhere in between [in terms] of how much fund balance we will use and how much levy.”

Option 1 calls for no budget cuts in addition to the assumed cuts estimated at $700,000, no fund balance use in addition to the $500,000 already planned, and a tax levy of 12.8 percent.

Option 2 calls for cutting an additional $1.85 million (five percent) from the budget, no additional fund balance use, and a tax levy of 4.4 percent.

Option 3 calls for no additional budget cuts, $1.85 million in additional fund balance, and a tax levy of 4.4 percent.

Option 4 calls for cutting an additional $925,000 (2.5 percent) from the budget, $925,000 in additional fund balance, and a tax levy of 4.4 percent.

Option 5 calls for no additional budget cuts, $925,000 in additional fund balance, and a tax levy of 8.6 percent.

When discussing the potential options, DiFulvio said that closing the gap by using even more of the district’s fund balance would not be a sustainable solution going forward. He compared it to using a savings account to pay monthly bills. Over time, the savings will run out, and there won’t be enough to cover expenses, which continue to rise each year.

He also described what it could look like if the district decided to go with Option 2, opting to cut $1.85 million in programs and services.

“$1.85 million is about five percent of our budget; however, there are certain parts of our budget that you can’t touch — health insurance premiums, our debt service, and things like that,” he said. “So, it becomes people. Even though it says five percent, it is the equivalent of [cutting] one in every ten employees.”

DiFulvio presented a list of specific staff and programming that are being considered for reduction or elimination and explained that to balance the budget, all the listed cuts would have to be made in addition to the assumed cuts estimated at $700,000 and the planned $500,000 in fund balance.

If the district decides to make cuts, they could impact academics, athletics, fine arts, class sizes, curriculum purchases, professional development, mental health, and technology.

Turf project’s impact on the budget

To clear up the misconception that the district’s ongoing turf field project is linked to the budget gap, DiFulvio provided an overview of how building projects are approved and paid for.

Building projects are approved by local taxpayers in votes that are separate from the annual budget votes. Approval of a building project gives the district permission to levy future taxes to pay for it.

Taxpayers pay the cost of the project minus state building aid. CCSD’s current state building aid rate is 71 percent, meaning the state covers that percentage of a building project’s cost. The remainder is called the local share.

The local share is added to the tax levy and offsets the expense added to the budget.

The turf field project is part of a larger $10,713,319 Phase II Capital Project that was approved by a capital project referendum vote in March 2022.

DiFulvio emphasized that building projects affect the tax levy, not the budget shortfall, and the $1.85 million budget gap would still exist without the turf fields project.

“I’m well aware of the rumors out there that the school district is in this situation because of the turf fields,” he said. “And what I want to share with you is that more than half of the schools in New York State are in this position. [This] is a statewide budget crisis; they didn’t all put in turf fields.”

The debt payments related to the project are not factored into the 2023-24 budget, and the local cost of the turf project in 2024-25 represents less than one percent of the total school district budget.

DiFulvio also noted that, by law, the district cannot use the turf field project monies for any other budget expenses.

Small group discussions

Following the presentation, attendees were divided into small groups and asked to weigh in on what matters most to them when it comes to the CCSD educational experience.

The table discussions were facilitated by Capital Region BOCES representatives, who recorded the feedback provided on the options presented by the district.

The facilitators also provided the attendees with handouts encouraging them, and other members of the CCSD community, to reach out to their state elected officials to advocate for the district.

The handouts feature contact information for Assemblyman Al Stirpe, Sen. Joe Griffo, and Hochul, as well as a sample letter for people to send to them.

The letter highlights the critical funding needs of CCSD and requests “the reinstatement of $614,000 in funding, with a modest 3 percent increase.”

DiFulvio said Stirpe and Griffo have been very supportive of the school district and have helped him get meetings with educational leaders in Albany.

According to DiFulvio, the governor has a team of people that monitors the number of emails received from districts.

“If Cazenovia keeps coming up on the email list, we will get attention,” he said. “I was told in a meeting with legislators yesterday that the more we can get Cazenovia on the list saying, ‘Give us our $614,000 back,’ the better chance we will have, and there is maybe even a possibility that we would get extra funding that only the governor has the [authority] to give. So, your voice does matter.”

Links to the budget advocacy information, along with the list of potential areas to cut from the budget, the 2024-25 budget challenges and options, and the presentation slides are available on the district website.

Next steps

Following the breakout sessions, DiFulvio announced that the district would be making a survey available for community members to share their thoughts on the options.

“We will review the feedback from this evening, as well as everything that was captured [by the survey], with the board of education,” DiFulvio said. “The administration will draft a budget based on the priorities that you all discussed, as well as the district’s mission, vision, and strategic plan.”

The district’s proposed 2024-25 budget will be presented to the board of education for adoption on April 15.

If it is adopted, a public hearing will be held on Tuesday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

The annual budget vote and election will take place on Tuesday, May 21 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the middle school auxiliary gym.

The superintendent wrapped up the event by reminding the attendees that the district’s current financial situation is nobody’s fault.

“This is not one fault of the school districts in New York State or the Cazenovia School District or this community or even one governor,” he said. “But your feedback is going to help us [make informed] decisions as we work through the budget development process. What I want you to know is that we are committed to sustaining our excellence and preserving our identity.”

The district will continue to keep the public informed on its website and at its board of education meetings.

Board of education meeting dates are listed on the district website and the school calendar. For more information on the school board, visit cazenoviacsd.com .

Anyone not directly affiliated with CCSD can also sign up for the ParentSquare Community Group to receive newsletters and other information. Sign up at parentsquare.com/community_signups/94dc9c19-0570-4ecd-bd7a-868cb499bc46/new .