School districts feel FAIR plan isn’t

School districts feel FAIR plan isn’t

School district officials in Monroe County feel strongly that the F.A.I.R. (Fairness, Accountability, Innovation and Results) plan proposed by County Executive Maggie Brooks as a way to balance the county’s budget is not fair to them. The plan, Business Administrator for the Hilton Central School District Steve Ayers said, shifts the burden of taxes from the county to the school districts by taking away the share of the sales tax revenue the schools had received in the past to balance the county’s budget. Districts are considering taking legal action.

In a press release Brooks stated, “It’s disappointing that the first instincts of our local school districts are to consider raising taxes when facing a change in revenue.” Brooks wrote that the FAIR plan solves the county’s structural deficit for the long-term with no fiscal impact to the City of Rochester, towns and villages. The plan, she stated, preserves important quality of life services for the residents while ensuring a balanced budget for years to come. The county had projected a budget shortfall of $102 million over the next two years, most of which is attributed to Medicaid costs. Under FAIR, that cost is completely eliminated.

“In our budget (Hilton schools) sales tax revenue provided just under $2.8 million of our revenue. If the FAIR plan is upheld, the amount we receive will essentially be cut in half,” Ayers said. “If the plan goes through as anticipated on January 1, 2008, we will be looking at a budget gap of more than $550,000 and will have to look at ways to making up that deficit.”

Ayers said that county legislators keep referring back to the additional state aid that districts received as a way to sidestep the loss of revenues they will be hit with. “When we get that additional money from the state, it was for specific initiatives – which we implemented at the beginning of the school year,” he said. One of those initiatives was a class room reduction program. “Teachers have been hired and programs are in place. Do we just do away with those?”

The timing is “frustrating” he said. “We’ve reconvened our budget committees to look at cost reductions and we also might need to look at immediate cuts,” he said. “We are going to have to make some difficult decisions over the next two to three weeks. This has really thrown us a curve ball.”

County Legislator for District 1 Dick Yolevich said, “The FAIR plan took the horrendous Medicaid bill off the backs of county taxpayers forever and cured the county budget deficit problems. The county executive has offered the services of our county budget advisory committee to all the school districts to help them look at their budgets and come up with innovative ways to save money.”

Bottom line on the FAIR plan, Yolevich said in the long run it will be beneficial to all taxpayers.

Hypothetically, Ayers said, if the sales tax revenues are cut to the portion that is anticipated, the district could be looking at a four percent increase in taxes.

Yolevich, who is seeking reelection, said the schools received record increases of state aid of about 11 percent last year. “You really can’t convince me that they (the districts) can’t tighten their belts without having to raise property taxes,” he said.

“We, as a district, are questioning whether the county had the authority to make this decision,” Ayers said. “We are part of the school districts of Monroe County that have joined in the lawsuit against the county.”

Taxpayers won’t be impacted in January even if the FAIR plan goes through. “We won’t be going back and redoing the taxes at this point,” he said. “The impact will show up in the budget next year.”

Dr. Pam Kissel, Superintendent of Schools at Churchville-Chili said, “The FAIR plan was developed without any consultation or representation from the school districts. Financially, this plan shifts the burden from the county to the school districts.”