Does County Budget Hurt Lynbrook Schools?

The Lynbrook Board of Education met on Nov. 10 for the first time since Nassau County approved a budget eliminating the county guarantee and instituting a sewer usage fee, both of which may result in the district paying more money in future budgets, according to Lynbrook School District officials.
   
And while the swear usage fee (you may have heard Nassau Democrats refer to it as the "toilet tax") is budget-able at  $.01 cent per gallon — which translates to about $43,735 per year for the Lynbrook School District — district officials have much less information about the tax certiorari payments.
   
"No one right now can actually predict moving forward in the budget season what we would be responsible for," said Assistant Superintendent For Business Melissa Burak.
   
That's because the county has paid for school districts' share of assessment errors since 1928, and there is currently no district-by-district breakdown for school administrators to review. In addition, many assessment challenges are backlogged or from previous tax years, so it would be difficult for districts to calculate just how much they owe per school year.
   
County officials have said that the elimination of the county guarantee will not affect school districts until 2013. Districts are allowed to begin funding a reserve for tax certiorari payments beginning in 2011-12.
   
But Superintendent Dr. Santo Barbarino said he felt the county budget would negatively affect Lynbrook schools.
   
"There are a lot of things working at odds with school districts," he said, adding that residents should be mindful of what is happening. "Keep your ear to the papers and broadcasts and we'll see what we can do to fight these efforts."