Eastchester REVIEW THE
April 8, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 15 | www.eastchesterreview.com
Eastchester school budget includes $2M in capital work By SARAH VARNEY Education Reporter
Home, sweet Home?
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held a rally in front of a bevy of supporters at SUNY Purchase on March 31, just weeks ahead of the New York primary on April 19. For more, see page 6. Photo/Andrew Dapolite
Town Police Department to receive LED lighting upgrade By KILEY STEVENS Staff Writer The town of Eastchester has set aside $18,000 to install LED lights in the Police Department to cut down on energy costs and increase efficiency. Town Supervisor Anthony Colavita, a Republican, told the Review that now that the money for the project has been authorized, the next step is to find a contractor to install the lights. Colavita thinks that the work will begin sometime this summer. The work in the Police Department will be the first part of a two-phase project that will implement LED lighting
in all of Eastchester’s municipal buildings. LED lights are growing popular because they are more efficient than typical incandescent lights as they use less power, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and result in lower electricity bills. The implementation of these new lights at the Police Department is a continuation of a townwide switch to energy-efficient lighting. According to Colavita, the town has been converting its streetlights to LED lights for the last four years. “We’ve spent $80,000 on the whole [conversion project], and we’ve already seen a
reduction of a little under 15 percent of our street lighting bill,” Colavita said. He added that as more LED lights are implemented, the town should see a larger reduction in its energy bill. The town has already installed 140 LED streetlamps, and Colavita said that another 50 will be installed this year. There is $20,000 set aside each year to continue the streetlight conversion program. Colavita told the Review that the LEDs in the Police Department will bring savings to not only the electric bill, but in manpower hours. According to the town supervisor, LEDs don’t need nearly as much maintenance as
typical incandescent lights do, so the contractor can essentially “set them and forget them.” In February, Bronxville officials approved spending $137,000 on the installation of 50 new LED streetlamps as part of an effort to transform the village business district. The goal is to replace all incandescent bulbs and outdated lamps with new light fixtures, but to also add more streetlamps to increase lighting in the area. Councilman Joe Dooley and Eastchester Police Chief Timothy Bonci could not be reached for comment as of press time. CONTACT: kiley@hometwn.com
The Eastchester Union Free School District presented a tax cap-compliant recommended budget for the 2016-2017 school year, totaling approximately $81.9 million, an increase of $1.9 million over the current 2015-2016 allocation. The proposed budget for next year is based on a 1.63 percent tax levy increase and includes the use of $300,000 in reserve funds. The 2016-2017 budget was unveiled at the March 29 meeting of the Board of Education, and includes plans to add 6.3 fulltime teaching positions. These new staff positions will include a science instructor to boost the district’s research classes, three teachers for additional instructional services at the elementary level, and a physical education slot necessitated by enrollment increases, Schools Superintendent Dr. Walter Moran said. Additionally, the budget will use approximately $2 million for capital projects. About $600,000 will pay for replacing fuel tanks at the district’s six schools. The remainder of the funds will be used for roofing and masonry repairs. This year, school districts statewide have been forced to build budgets using an allowable tax levy increase of just 0.12 percent because of the low 1.7 percent inflation rate. The January 2011 Property Tax Cap law imposes a limit of 2 percent on yearly property tax levy increases or the rate of inflation if that figure is lower in any given year. Under the state’s tax cap law, money tagged for school capital
projects is exempt from the cap calculations. Elimination of the “Gap Adjustment” law, OK’d at the end of March, will boost state aid to the district by approximately $750,000. Since 2009, school districts statewide had been subject to a percentage decrease in state aid, after the law was enacted to help close the state’s budget gap in 2010. The recommended budget calls for the $2 million for capital work to come out of the operating budget, but Board of Education Trustee Vito Catania suggested that such a plan would be unfair to certain Eastchester taxpayers. Instead, he proposed that the $2 million should be raised via bonding. The subtraction of that money from the budget would lower taxpayer bills, he said. “I don’t deny that the work needs to be done; but if you load it upfront, someone who moves in [for] two years pays for it but doesn’t get any benefit from it” Catania said. Trustee Paul Doyle countered that even a short-term homeowner in Eastchester benefits from high property values and good schools, while board President Mary Messner Martin raised the issue of publicity costs, notice requirements and cost of debt service associated with bonding for the $2 million. The trustees agreed to discuss the method of funding the improvements further. A vote by the Board of Education to approve the recommended budget will take place at the April 19 meeting. The budget BUDGET continued on page 8
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