'Disappointed': Wainscott Common School Budget Fails By 3 Votes

WAINSCOTT, NY — All they needed was three more votes.

Of four districts, some of the smaller on Long Island, whose 2023 to 2-24 budgets proposed piercing New York State's tax cap, three districts' passed — including the New Suffolk Common School, Montauk Public School, and Springs School — the budget at the Wainscott Common School was voted.

The budget was one of only two on Long Island, including the West Hempstead district, to fail.

The Wainscott Common School's proposed budget of $6,161,331, which represents an increase of 49.27 percent and a tax levy increase of 66.11 percent, failed, 91 to 56.

"We fell short by three votes," Wainscott School Superintendent Deborah Haab told Patch.

In a budget that pierces the cap, a 60 percent supermajority is necessary for the budget to pass.

If residents vote down a budget, the school board can present the same, or a revised budget, in a new vote. Or, they can opt to adopt a contingency budget but the tax levy cannot be higher than it was during the past year. Should voters nix the proposed budget a second time, the adopted budget has to have the same tax levy as the last year.

At the Wainscott Common School, where there are only 28 students in the school house and 120 in total, administrators called it an "uncommon year."

"Since the 2022 to 2023 budget was approved, 20 new tuition students moved into the district. This is a 22 percent increase, which resulted in increased costs of nearly $1 million," the district said on its website. "To put this increase into perspective, if a district of 1500 students had a 22 percent increase in their student population, that would mean 330 new students. Legally and morally, the school district must provide an education for K to 12 students who are residents of the district. 92, or 76 percent of these students (4-12) attend other schools. 76 percent of the proposed 2023 to 2024 budget is for tuition, special education services and transportation for these92 students. The cost for these programs are referred to as ordinary contingent expenses. This is not discretionary spending."

Next, Haab said, the school board needs to convene to decide next steps. The district has the option to bring the same, or slightly revised, budget back for a revote on the state-legislated date of June 20.

Haab said the budget would likely only be "slightly revised" because the BOE took the time to mindfully put forth the budget plan, knowing the impact it would have on the community. "The budget was based on what we know our expenses are going to be and what we anticipate could possibly be additional expenses," she said. "There's not a lot that we could remove from the budget."

Haab was thankful to the community that the vote failed by such a slim margin. "Clearly, the community understands our situation. Because if it weren't for the required 60 percent supermajority, the budget passed. Clearly, the majority of the community understands that these are circumstances we had no control over."

If the vote failed a second time, the district would have to adopt a contingency budget, with only a "negligible difference" to the proposed budget, mainly because the district does not have after-school programs or other electives to cut, Haab said.

However, under a contingency budget, the district would still need to levy taxes in excess of the statutory cap, so special legislation to get that tax levy approved would likely be needed, Haab said.

With such a large influx of new students, Haab said, "there's just no way that our tax levy increase can be within the regulated tax cap. It's just not possible for us to put forth a budget that would be within that levy limit based on our current expenses. It's not discretionary spending — it's what is referred to as an ordinary contingent expense."

She added that when children move into the school district, administrators are "legally and morally obligated to provide them with whatever education they need. It doesn't matter whether or not we've budgeted for that. We can't say, 'So sorry, you have to go somewhere else because we didn't plan on you being here. We can't put a 'no vacancy' sign on the front lawn."

The influx of students this year was "unforseeable and unprecedented," Haab said. "I've been a superintendent for more than 20 years and this is a Lollapalooza."

Of the failed budget, Haab said she was "disappointed" but very grateful for all those who turned out in support — adding that should the budget go to a second vote, she hoped they'd come out in support again.

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