Sachem budget draft keeps levy under cap but relies on reserves and uncertain state aid

Budget Draft No. 5 presented to the Sachem Central School District Board of Education on March 26 proposes a tax-cap–compliant tax levy increase of 2.2005 percent and a $380.9 million spending plan that relies in part on transfers to capital and anticipated, but not guaranteed, revenues.

Business official Michelle Serakis told the board the levy submitted to the state comptroller on March 1 includes a $9 million transfer to capital. She said removing that transfer would also require removing the $9 million of revenue and therefore would not close the district’s projected budget gap.

Serakis said the district has not yet received a final state budget. The district is planning for a reported 83-student drop in the BEDS (Basic Educational Data System) enrollment count that underlies foundation-aid allocations; Serakis said the district reduced its foundation-aid projection by about $559,000 to reflect that possible enrollment change. She characterized that reduction as a proactive adjustment in case the state budget is delayed or final numbers differ from the governor’s proposal.

The business official also said the district removed $1 million of E-Rate reimbursements from the revenue side because the reimbursement is not guaranteed and must pass a review by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). Serakis told the board that accepting E‑Rate funds could jeopardize other cooperative funding through Eastern Suffolk BOCES and therefore the district removed the line until funding certainty arrives.

Serakis described other revenue changes: interest earnings were…