Comptroller: Kings Park Schools Are "Susceptible to Fiscal Stress"

Kings Park Central School District is "susceptible to fiscal stress," according to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System.

Kings Park is one of the 87 school districts, or 13 percent state wide, that the state comptroller has designated as fiscally stressed based on financial indicators that include the district's year-end fund balance, cash position and patterns of operating deficits. 

“School districts are a critical barometer to the fiscal health of our local communities,” DiNapoli said in the report released Thursday. “Unfortunately, reductions in state aid, a cap on local revenue and decreased rainy day funds are creating financial challenges that more and more school districts are having trouble overcoming.”

According to the report, each district was scored as in “signficant fiscal stress,” in “moderate fiscal stress,” as “susceptible to fiscal stress,” or “no designation” based on financial information submitted as part of a ST-3 report filed with the State Education Department on Dec. 13.

Kings Park Superintendent Susan Agruso gave residents a preliminary glimpse into the challenges the district is facing in making up the 2014-15 budget at the Dec. 17 Board of Education meeting. 

" We are going to look at a budget gap of over $1 million," Agruso said on Dec. 17. 

If the district were to attempt a rollover its 2013-14 budget, with no changes to its staffing or students programs, Agruso said it would be approximately a $2.6 million increase. 

This $2.6 million increase would be due largely to increasing expenses in three areas: the state's Teacher Retirement Service, health care insurance costs and contractual salary agreements with district employees. 

Based on the state's calculations of New York State's "2 percent tax cap," if the district can raise a 1.66 tax levy based on cost-of-living increases it will fall short $1.59 million. If  the state allows the district the full 2 percent tax levy, it will be short  $1.37 million.