North Shore receives roughly $80,000 in state funding

The North Shore School District recently received an increase of roughly $80,000 in state aid, leading the district to reduce its tax levy from 3.96% to 3.87%. The additional aid was announced last week when the New York State Legislature and the Governor reached an agreement on the final state budget.

The tax levy is the amount of money that a school district can plan to raise through local property taxes to fund its budget. The levy in an essential part of a school district’s funding, as it helps cover the costs of educational programs, staff salaries, facility maintenance, transportation and other operational expenses.

District Superintendent Chris Zublionis confirmed the news, expressing that while the district was hoping for a larger amount, any increase in state aid was welcomed.

"We were hoping for a little bit more," Zublionis said. “We didn’t know exactly what the percentage would be or how they were factoring it, so it wasn’t super clear how they were recalculating it.”

The district will allocate this amount towards lowering the tax levy increase, offering some relief to residents. Zublionis noted that while the savings per taxpayer may not be substantial, estimated at around $10 to $15, the district prioritized providing any possible savings to residents.

"We were trying to find savings for the residents as much as we could, and so I think were hopeful we’d get a lot more aid that could both give back to the taxpayers and reinstitute some of the things we had initially cut," he said. “Since it was that smaller amount, we just realized that if there’s anything we can get back to the taxpayers at all, we would do that and maintain the budget that we have.”

The district has made efforts to balance the needs of its students and taxpayers amidst financial challenges, including losing tax revenue from LIPA and dealing with inflation.

"We are doing everything we can to maintain programs for our students while keeping the tax levy as low as possible," Zublionis added.

Dr. Andrea Macari, president of the Board of Education, echoed the superintendent's sentiment, stating that the district is committed to balancing the needs of all stakeholders.

"The district has made an incredible effort to listen to all stakeholders and to really balance the needs of our students with the needs of our taxpayers," Macari said. “I referred to it once as ‘the Goldilocks effect;’ just the right amount where we’re able to preserve programs and still come in significantly below the tax cap.”

Macari also emphasized the district's history of responsible budgeting and community support. She added that while the state aid had helped to marginally offset some of the costs faced by district residents, she, like Zublionis, had hoped for a more substantial amount of funding for the district.

“Does this extra money solve our significant problems? No,” Macari said. “But does it help ease the taxpayer burden a bit? Yes, and I’m happy for that.”

The North Shore School District's current budget is $1,567,933.20 under the tax cap for the 2024-25 fiscal year, a continuation of the district's efforts to stay under the cap from the previous year. The district faces further financial strain from the loss of tax revenue from LIPA, as well as inflation affecting various areas such as health insurance, energy costs, and general insurance.

Despite these challenges, Zublionis and Macari emphasized that the district remains committed to maintaining educational programs for its students while providing relief to taxpayers. To that end, they emphasized that the North Shore has one of the lowest budget to budget increases out of any district in Nassau County, despite the fact that no others are dealing with the unique challenges presented by the loss in LIPA revenue.

"This community has a long tradition of supporting our schools, and the budget has passed every year for 20 years," she noted. "The fact that we're able to preserve programs and present a responsible budget while coming in below the tax cap is something the community should be proud of."

For more information on the district's budget and efforts to balance the needs of students and taxpayers, residents can visit the North Shore School District's website at NorthShoreSchools.org/boe/budget.html.