Valley Stream officials decry potential loss of state aid

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If Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget passes, the Village of Valley Stream could lose more than half a million dollars in state aid next year.

Under Cuomo’s 2019-20 spending plan, the state’s Aid and Incentives for Municipalities program would be cut for any village that used the funds to cover less than 2 percent of its expenditures in 2017. As a result, Valley Stream would receive $558,334 less in state aid next year, which could mean a 1.2 percent tax-levy increase in the village’s 2019-20 budget.

“He’s rewarding villages that rely on state aid,” Valley Stream Treasurer Mike Fox said of Cuomo. “It’s really ridiculous.”

Valley Stream is the third- largest village in Nassau County, and has a Sanitation Department, Department of Public Works and Building Department. It provides snow removal, garbage pickup and disposal and park passes. The village relies on state aid to help fund these services and to pay for the state’s unfunded mandates.

To offset the loss in revenue and continue to fund programs at the same level next year, Fox said, village officials would look to increase non-tax revenues, including land leases, rental fees, pool fees and permit fees.

“Ideally, we could find other revenue sources,” he said, adding that the village would “absolutely not” cut any services. “We will continue to pick up the slack for our state,” Fox said.

The cut in funding comes as the village has run into financial difficulties in recent years. It is currently in moderate financial stress and had a 63.3 percent fiscal score in 2018, according to the office of New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Since 2011, its budget has ballooned from $33.8 million to $41.8 million, with expenses largely attributed to skyrocketing health insurance costs.

Last year, Moody’s, an investor rating company, downgraded the village’s bond rating to Baa3, one level above junk status, attributing the change to rolling operating deficits. The downgrade means that borrowing to cover budget shortfalls will be more costly.

Cutting AIM funding would only push the village into further fiscal stress, according to Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, a Democrat from Elmont.

Solages said that rather than cut AIM funding for villages, the governor should increase state aid for municipalities to offset any tax increases that homeowners will pay under President Trump’s tax plan, which reduces state and local tax deductions. “Homeowners cannot be hit again,” Solages said.

Negotiations on the proposed state budget are continuing, and Solages said that she would push for more AIM funding. “I’m here to advocate for the taxpayers,” she said.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, also said that restoring state aid for villages and towns would be a top priority.

Are school districts getting more state aid?

Cuomo also announced that his spending plan would increase state aid for local school districts, but some Valley Stream school officials are still saying that they would not receive enough funds under the proposal.

According to State Education Department documents, District 13 would receive $684,687 more in state aid in 2019-20; District 24, $46,699 more; District 30, $822,275 more; and the Central High School District, almost $2.17 million more. Those numbers are preliminary, however, and might fluctuate as budget negotiations continue through March.

Gerard Antoine, District 13’s assistant superintendent for business, said that the majority of the district’s state aid increase is due to its $32 million bond project. He said that the foundational aid, the largest portion of state aid a school district receives, would only increase 0.25 percent under Cuomo’s budget.

In District 30, foundational aid would increase by 1.8 percent under the plan. Brian Phillips, the assistant superintendent for business, said that the district would use the preliminary figure in its budget process.

District 24 would receive a 0.67 percent increase in state aid, the smallest increase for any of Valley Stream’s school districts. Jack Mitchell, the district’s director of finance and operations, said that he had expected an increase of at least 3 percent.

“To get 0.67 percent is not really helpful,” Mitchell said, adding that a number of contracts will be up for negotiation again next year.

The district, he said, would have to “be more prudent” if the proposed budget passes, but he did not know how the reduced state aid would affect the district’s taxes, as he did not yet have the tax rate formula.

Representatives of the Central High School District could not be reached for comment at press time.