School Budget Vote

Synopsis 2013-2014
S tat New York

e Sch ool Bud get V ote 201 3-2 014

2013-2014 School Budget Vote Results

The first round of school budget votes for the 2013-2014 school fiscal year took place on May 21, 2013 for 676 districts across New York State. Out of 676 school budget votes, 644 or 95.3% passed and 32 or 4.7% were defeated in the first attempt. Out of the 648 school budgets that were within their maximum property tax levy limit, 637 or 98.3% were passed. Only two of these districts, Niagara-Wheatfield CSD in Niagara County, and East Ramapo CSD in Rockland County also had budget defeats in the 2012-2013 school year. All but one of the 32 districts with defeated budgets held re-votes on June 18. Marlboro Central School District approved a contingency budget instead of holding a second vote. The BOCES regions with the lowest percentage of voter approved budgets among their component districts were the OrleansNiagara BOCES, with a 76.9% budget approval rate, and the Orange Ulster BOCES, with an 83.3% budget approval rate. After the revote on June 18, 94% of the revised budgets were passed with the only two defeated re-votes being Remsen Central Schools in Oneida County (41% for budget), and Wilson Central School District in Niagara County (40% for budget).

Upstate School DistrictUpstate Budget School Vote Results District Budget Results June 2013
Symbol District 1 ALDEN CSD 2 BEMUS POINT CSD 3 CAIRO DURHAM CSD 4 CORNWALL CSD 5 CLARENCE CSD 6 EAST RAMAPO CSD 7 ELMIRA HEIGHTS CSD 8 GENERAL BROWN CSD 9 LEWISTON-PORTER CSD 10 MIDDLEBURGH CSD 11 MINERVA CSD 12 MORAVIA CSD 13 NEWCOMB CSD 14 NIAGARA-WHEATFIELD CSD 15 NISKAYUNA CSD 16 NORTH SYRACUSE CSD 17 REMSEN CSD 18 SOUTH SENECA CSD 19 TUPPER LAKE CSD 20 VALLEY CENTRAL CSD 21 WILSON CSD

19 8 21 17 5 1 18 12 10 3 7 20 6 4 16 15 13 11

9 14

Budget Passed First Time Budget Passed with withRevote Revote Budget Passed Budget Defeated with withRevote Revote Budget Defeated

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Downstate School Budget Vote Results

Westchester County and Long Island School Budget Results June 2013

2 4 6 9 3 10
Symbol School District BALDWIN UFSD BRIARCLIFF MANOR UFSD EAST QUOGUE UFSD ELMSFORD UFSD MANHASSET UFSD MT. VERNON CITY SD NORTH BABYLON UFSD SACHEM CSD SCARSDALE UFSD SOUTH COUNTRY CSD

Budget Passed with with Revote Revote Budget Passed both First Years Time

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Results of School Budget Votes that Failed on their First Attempt

School District Capital Region BOCES Middleburgh CSD Niskayuna CSD Cayuga-Ononodaga BOCES Moravia CSD Erie #1 BOCES Alden CSD Clarence CSD Erie #2 - Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES Bemus Point CSD Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES Tupper Lake CSD Greater Southern Tier BOCES Elmira Heights CSD Jefferson-Lewis-Herkimer-Oneida BOCES General Brown CSD 806 580 1386 58.20% Yes 312 272 584 53.40% Yes 512 685 1,197 42.80% Yes 215 227 442 48.60% Yes 495 3,431 743 4,801 1238 8,232 40.00% 41.70% Yes Yes 512 393 905 56.60% Yes 374 2484 399 3154 773 5638 48.40% 48.40% Yes Yes Vote Yes Vote No Total Percent Yes Revote

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School District Nassau BOCES Baldwin UFSD Manhasset UFSD Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES Remsen CSD Onondaga-Herkimer-Madison BOCES North Syracuse CSD Orange-Ulster BOCES Cornwall CSD Marlboro CSD Valley Central SD Orleans-Niagara BOCES Lewiston-Porter CSD Niagara-Wheatfield CSD Wilson CSD Putnam-Northern Westchester BOCES Briarcliff Manor CSD Questar III BOCES Cairo-Durham CSD Rockland BOCES East Ramapo CSD Eastern Suffolk BOCES East Quogue UFSD Sachem CSD South Country CSD Western Suffolk BOCES North Babylon CSD Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES South Seneca CSD Minerva CSD Newcomb CSD Westchester BOCES Elmsford CSD Mount Vernon City SD Scarsdale UFSD

Vote Yes 1945 2053 141 1,989 1,365 734 2,062 939 1,598 414 805 549 4,895 494 6,826 1,538 1,358 432 144 111 210 773 1,502

Vote No 1538 1797 170 1,680 913 1,266 2,207 1,153 1,601 698 763 598 5,400 340 5,762 1,307 1,157 399 177 104 236 1,169 1,720

Total 3483 3850 311 3,669 2,278 2,000 4,269 2,092 3,199 1,112 1,568 1,147 10,295 834 12,588 2,845 2,515 831 321 215 446 1,942 3,222

Percent Yes 55.80% 53.30% 45.30% 54.20% 59.90% 36.70% 48.30% 44.90% 50.00% 37.20% 51.30% 47.90% 47.50% 59.20% 54.20% 54.10% 54.00% 52.00% 44.90% 51.60% 47.10% 39.80% 46.60%

Revote Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES

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School Budget Votes Based on Need

The 32 districts whose budgets were initially rejected were generally varied in regards to their Need/Resource Capacity index. The school districts classified as High Need, had the lowest instance of budgets defeated with only four school districts out of the 198 or 2.0% in their category failing to pass. Average Need school districts had 20 out of 336 or 5.9% of budgets rejected. Low Need school districts had the highest percent of budgets defeated with 8 out of 134 or 5.9% of budgets voted down. All but one of the school districts whose budgets were defeated the first time held a second vote on June 18 rather than adopt a contingency budget. Remsen CSD (a high need district) and Wilson CSD (an average need district), were the only two districts out of the 31 that held revotes which were defeated a second time. When analyzing the budget results according to Need/Resource Capacity, there does not seem to be a correlation between a districts classification and budget rejection. Since the overwhelming majority of school budgets across the state were successfully passed, rejection rates were low to begin with and spread fairly evenly across the three categories of need.

Upstate School Budget Results by District Financial Need 2013-2014

Symbol District High Need Districts with Budget Defeats 1 EAST RAMAPO CSD 2 REMSEN CSD 3 SOUTH SENECA CSD Average Need Districts with Budget Defeats 4 ALDEN CSD 5 BEMUS POINT CSD 6 CAIRO-DURHAM CSD 7 CORNWALL CSD 8 ELMIRA HEIGHTS CSD 9 GENERAL BROWN CSD 10 LEWISTON-PORTER CSD 11 MARLBORO CSD 12 MIDDLEBURGH CSD 13 MINERVA CSD 14 MORAVIA CSD 15 NIAGARA-WHEATFIELD CSD 16 NORTH SYRACUSE CSD 17 TUPPER LAKE CSD 18 VALLEY CENTRAL CSD 19 WILSON CSD Low Need Districts with Budget Defeats 20 CLARENCE CSD 21 NEWCOMB CSD 22 NISKAYUNA CSD

Upstate New York Budget Results by Financial Need 2013-14

17 9 19 10 15 4 3 14 12 6 20 16 2 21 13

22

5
2013-2014 Budget Defeat High Need School Districts Low Need School Districts Average Need School Districts

11 18 7 1

Based on State Education Departments 2008 Need/Resource Capacity Index

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Downstate School Budget Results by Financial Need 2013-2014

Downstate Budget Results by Financial Need 2013-14

8 3 11 10 2 5 6 9

Symbol

4 7
2013-2014 Budget Defeat Low Need School Districts High Need School Districts Average Need School Districts

District Hign Need Districts With Budget Defeats 1 East Ramapo CSD 2 Mount Vernon City SD Average Need Districts with Budget Defeats 3 Elmsford UFSD 4 North Babylon UFSD 5 Sachem CSD 6 South Country CSD Low Need School Districts with Budget Defeats 7 Baldwin UFSD 8 Briarcliff Manor UFSD 9 East Quogue UFSD 10 Manhasset UFSD 11 Scarsdale UFSD

Based on State Education Departments 2008 Need/Resource Capacity Index

Results Compared with Tax Cap Override Requests

Since the 2012-2013 school year, school districts have been operating under a state imposed tax cap which limits their levy increase to the lesser of 2% or the rate of inflation. However, school districts have the option to exceed the tax cap or levy limit by obtaining 60% voter approval of their budgets. For the 2013-2014 school year, 28 school districts attempted to exceed their tax cap. Of these districts, only 7 or 25% were successful in obtaining the 60% voter approval. Thirteen of these districts succeeded in obtaining the majority vote for passage of the budget, but were still below the 60% required to override the tax cap. If these districts were included in the budget passage rate, the statewide total would have been 97.2%, the second highest on record dating to 1969. Only three districts attempted to override their property tax levy limit for the revote on June 18. These districts were Newcomb CSD, Manhasset UFSD, and North Babylon UFSD, and all received well above the required 60% approval in the second round.

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Districts with Override Requests

School District Alexandria CSD Ardsley UFSD Baldwin UFSD Bay Shore UFSD Briarcliff Manor UFSD Clarence CSD Cornwall CSD East Quogue UFSD Elmira Heights CSD General Brown CSD Irvington UFSD Kiryas Joel UFSD Lewiston-Porter CSD Manhasset UFSD Budget Passed (P) or Defeated (D) P P D P D D D D D D P P D D School District Minerva CSD Moravia CSD Newcomb CSD Niskayuna CSD North Babylon UFSD North Syracuse CSD Sachem UFSD Scarsdale UFSD South Colonie CSD South Country CSD South Seneca CSD Tupper Lake CSD Tuxedo SD Valley Central SD Total successful overrides Budget Passed (P) or Defeated (D) D D D D D D D D P D D D P D 7(25%)

Districts Seeking Override of Tax Cap That Obtained Simple Majorities but Fell Below Required 60% Approval
School District Baldwin UFSD Briarcliff Manor UFSD Cornwall CSD East Quogue UFSD Elmira Heights CSD General Brown CSD Manhasset UFSD Moravia CSD Newcomb CSD North Babylon CSD North Syracuse CSD Sachem CSD South Country CSD Percent Approval 55.80% 51.30% 59.90% 59.20% 53.40% 58.20% 53.30% 56.60% 51.60% 54.10% 54.20% 54.20% 54.10%

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Budget Result Trends in the Past Decade

School Budget Approval Percentages in Past Decade
100

Percentage of Budgets Passed

95

90

85

80

75 20032004 20042005 20052006 20062007 20072008 20082009 20092010 20102011 20112012 20122013 20132014

School Year

Since the implementation of the tax cap, there has been minimal impact on the school budget passage rate as can be seen in the table below, where budget passage rates have averaged 91.8% over the last decade. However, that is not to suggest that the property tax cap has not had an impact on the budgets that school districts have prepared and submitted to their voters in the past two years since the enactment of the property tax cap. School Budget Approval Percentages in Past Decade
School Year 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 Percentage Approved 93.8 84.8 83.5 88.3 95.3 92.5 97.3 92.2 93.4 96.5 95.3

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While the percentage of school budgets initially approved in the past two years has exceeded the previous ten-year average, districts are clearly aware of the risks of proposing school budgets that exceed their property tax levy limits. It is clear that indications are such that districts attempting to override their property tax caps will not attain such high budget approval rates. As mentioned earlier, for the 2013-2014 school year, only 7 out of 28 or 25% of school budgets proposing to override their property tax caps were passed by voters. Last year, while more favorable to school districts, only 34 out of 53 or 64.2% of school districts that proposed budgets exceeding their property tax

levy limits saw their budgets approved. In sum, it would appear that there has been a chilling effect on school boards proposing budgets that exceed their property tax caps. In the past two years, only 81 or an average of less than 6% of all school districts have proposed budgets that have exceeded their respective property tax caps. At the same time, school districts across the state have overwhelmingly voiced their discontent with the property tax cap and the limitations it places on them to levy the funding needed to maintain their educational programs. Yet, there are very few school districts willing to take the risk and seek an override.

Upstate School Budget Vote Results Since Tax Cap

Symbol District 1 ALDEN 2 BEMUS POINT CSD 3 BOLIVAR-RICHBURG CSD 4 BRIARCLIFF MANOR UFSD 5 CAIRO-DURHAM CSD 6 CHEEKTOWAGA-SLOAN UFSD 7 CLARENCE CSD 8 COBLESKILL-RICHMONDVILLE CSD 9 CORNWALL CSD 10 EAST RAMAPO CSD 11 ELMIRA CITY SD 12 ELMIRA HEIGHTS CSD 13 FONDA-FULTONVILLE CSD 14 GENERAL BROWN CSD 15 GERMANTOWN CSD 16 HIGHLAND CSD 17 LEWISTON-PORTER CSD 18 MARLBORO CSD 19 MIDDLEBURGH CSD 20 MINERVA CSD 21 MORAVIA CSD 22 NEW PALTZ CSD 23 NEWCOMB CSD 24 NIAGARA-WHEATFIELD CSD 25 NISKAYUNA CSD 26 NORTH SYRACUSE CSD 27 OPPENHEIM-EPHRATAH CSD 28 PLATTSBURGH CITY CSD 29 REMSEN CSD 30 SOUTH SENECA CSD 31 STILLWATER CSD 32 TUPPER LAKE CSD 33 UNADILLA VALLEY CSD 34 VALLEY CENTRAL CSD(MONTGOMERY) 35 WILSON CSD 36 WYOMING CSD

Upstate New York School Budget Results for 2012-2013 and 2013-2014

28

32 14 23 20

17 24 6

35 26 7 1 36 21 30 33

29

27 13 8 19 5 3 12 22 16 11

31

25

15

2012-2013, 2013-2014 Budget Defeat 2013-2014 Budget Defeat 2012-2013 Budget Defeat Budget Passed Both Years

34

18 9 10 4

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Downstate School Budget Vote Results Since Tax Cap

Downstate School Budget Results for 2012-2013 and 2013-2014

14 2

8 17 19 11 20 6 10 9 7 1 13 5 16 15 18 3
Symbol District 1 BALDWIN UFSD 2 BRIARCLIFF MANOR UFSD 3 CENTER MORICHES 4 COMESEWOG UFSD 5 EAST ISLIP UFSD 6 EAST QUOGUE UFSD 7 ELMONT UFSD 8 ELMSFORD UFSD 9 FLORAL PARK-BELLROSE UFSD 10 MANHASSET UFSD 11 MT SINAI UFSD 12 MT VERNON CITY SD 13 NORTH BABYLON UFSD 14 OYSTERPONDS UFSD 15 PATCHOGUE-MEDFORD UFSD 16 SACHEM CSD 17 SCARSDALE UFSD 18 SOUTH COUNTRY CSD 19 THREE VILLAGE CSD 20 TUKAHOE COMMON SD

12

2012-2013, 2013-2014 Defeat 2013-2014 Budget Defeat 2012-2013 Budget Defeat Budget Passed Both Years

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School Budget Voter Turnout since the 2007-2008 School Year

Voter turnout for the 2013-2014 budget vote was the lowest it has been in the past seven years, with 703,999 voters participating statewide. This represents a significant (28.3%) decrease in voter turnout since the 2010-2011 budget vote, in which 981,681 voters participated. Since 2010, there has been a steady decline in overall voter turnout and since 2007-2008, statewide participation has averaged 812,670 votes per year. Throughout the past seven budget votes, the majority of voters have been overwhelmingly supportive of the budget as evidenced by the fact that school budgets statewide have achieved an average approval rate of 94.6% during those years. Moreover, votes in support of school budgets have outweighed votes against them by an average of 200,970 votes per year, or approximately 1.7 Yes votes for every single No vote. While it may be too early to conclude, it is worth noting that voter turnout on school budgets has declined 19.8%, or 173,403 less voters since the enactment of the property tax cap. One must wonder if voters now feel school budgets and property taxes are being kept under control by the property tax cap, and therefore less reason for them to show up at the polls to vote. If this turns out to be true, and voter turnout continues to decline, the property tax cap may have the unintended consequence of stifling democracy. The exception however, is school budget votes that seek to override the property tax cap, where voter participation continues to be high. For example, of the 28 school districts that sought to override the property tax cap in 2013, 24 districts collectively saw voter participation increase from 38,594 votes in 2012 to 60,744 votes in 2013, for a 72.9% increase in voter turnout. Analysis of future voting patterns and participation will likely yield some answers.

Voter Turnout from 2007-2008 to 2013-2014

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A publication of the New York State Association of School Business Officials. Copyright 2013 NYSASBO
Contact: Michael J. Borges, Executive Director The New York State Association of School Business Officials (NYSASBO) 7 Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207 | www.nysasbo.org | 518-434-2281