'High Tax Aid' Cuts to Hit Local School Districts Hard

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's executive budget calls for cutting "high tax aid" by close to a third, and Southampton area school districts stand to suffer for it if the state Legislator signs off.

Across the entire state budget, the amount allocated for high tax aid is being cut $50.0 million, bringing the total down to $154.7 million, and a greater portion of the aid will be directed to school districts with lower wealth and high property taxes.

Tuckahoe

Tuckahoe Common School District faces a cut of 10.0 percent in total aid, amounting to $82,279, though when building aid is not considered, the cut is 8.4 percent, or $65,047. Building aid is specific to construction projects, rather than regular operating costs. Year-to-year, the district's building aid will drop from $49,484 to $32,252.

During 2012-13, Tuckahoe received $287,815 in high tax aid. The proposed allocation for 2013-14 is just $161,374, a $126,441 reduction.

Tuckahoe will get a bump in funding for services provided to students with disabilities. After receiving $0 for district students with disabilities attending private school during the 2012-13 school year, Tuckahoe is to get $47,404 in 2013-14. For students attending public school, the allocation has been increased from $9,254 to $17,943, and difference of $8,689.

The new aid package proposed totals $740,845.

Sag Harbor

Sag Harbor School District is currently slated to see a 9.2 percent drop in regular aid — but a steeper drop of 10.3 percent when building aid is taken out of the mix.

In total, the district stands to receive $131,896 less than the 2012-13 school year. The new aid package proposed is $1,308,882.

The district is taking the biggest hit when it comes to the category of high tax aid, which is proposed to drop from $165,430 to $49,629.

But a note in the governor's proposed budget states that Sag Harbor's aid was established based on incomplete data, so the number may change when the data is received.

Southampton

The governor's budget calls for Southampton School District's aid to drop by 1.8 percent, but when building aid is taken out of the equation, the cut amounts to 2.5 percent. Southampton's new total state aid package currently stands at $2,259,125.

The district stands to lose $42,397 in total compared to 2012-13. The district's high tax aid had been budgeted to be reduced from $119,010 to $35,703, though changes in other categories make up for some of the difference, such as a nearly $15,000 increase in BOCES and special services aid.

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Bridgehampton

Bridgehampton School District is budgeted to lose $46,529, or 8.3 percent, in total state aid. When building aid is removed from the equation, the loss for the district is $50,813, or 9.3 percent.

The district's new total aid package is budgets to be $517,572. While the district received $50,000 in high tax aid in 2012-13, it is slated to only get $15,000 in 2013-14.

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