Budget Glossary

  • Base proportions: Base proportions determine how the tax burden is distributed between residential and commercial properties in the town. Changes in the base proportion do not change the overall district tax levy, but instead change how much of the tax levy is paid by homeowners and how much is paid by owners of commercial properties. Base proportions are determined by the NYS Office of Real Property Services (ORPS).
  • Bond: Money borrowed to pay for a school district expenditure. Typically, the money is used for capital expenditures, such as the purchase of buses or the construction or renovation of a
    building, although in some cases school districts also issue bonds for other large expenditures
    such as the repayment of back taxes in a certiorari settlement. The goal in borrowing is to
    spread the cost out over a period of years and lessen the cost to taxpayers in any one year. By
    definition, a bond is a written promise to pay a specified sum of money, called the face value or
    principal amount, at a specified date in the future (the maturity date), together with periodic
    interest at a specified rate.
  • Budget: A plan of financial operation expressing the estimates of proposed expenditures for a
    fiscal year and the proposed means of financing them.
  • Budget calendar: The schedule of key dates that the board of education and administrators
    follow in the preparation, adoption and administration of the budget.
  • Budget cap: In the event of a school budget defeat and the adoption of a contingent budget,
    school districts must cap their spending increase at 120% of the Consumer Price index or 4
    percent, whichever is lower. For more on this, see the definition of a contingent budget.
  • Capital outlay: An expenditure that is generally more than $20,000 and results in the
    ownership, control or possession of assets intended for continued use over long periods of time. These can include new buildings or building renovations and additions; new school buses; as well as new equipment (i.e. desks, computers, etc) and library books purchased for a new or expanded school building.
  • Consumer Price Index (CPI): An index of prices used to measure the change in the cost of
    basic goods and services in comparison with a fixed base period. Also called cost-­of-­living
    index. However, the CPI does not take into account many of the items that cause school district
    budgets to rise, such as the increasing cost of health insurance, liability insurance and
    retirement contributions.
  • Contingent budget: Under state law, school boards can submit a budget to voters a maximum
    of two times. If the proposed budget is defeated twice, the board must adopt a contingency
    budget. The board also has the option of going directly to a contingent budget immediately after the first budget defeat. Under a contingent budget, the district may not increase spending by more than 120 percent of the Consumer Price Index or 4 percent, whichever is lower. The items exempt from this cap are tax certiorari and other legal settlements, debt service (mortgage payments), and costs associated with enrollment growth. Under a contingent budget, the percentage of the budget devoted to administrative costs cannot increase from what it was in the prior year’s budget or the last defeated budget, whichever is lower. Once a contingent budget is established, community residents are no longer allowed to petition boards of education to put additional items up for a separate vote.
  • Employee benefits: Amounts paid by the district on behalf of employees. These amounts are
    not included in the gross salary. They are fringe benefits, and while not paid directly to
    employees, are part of the cost of operating the school district. Employee benefits include the
    district cost for health insurance premiums, dental insurance, life and disability insurance,
    Medicare, retirement, social security and tuition reimbursement.
  • Equalization rate: In simple terms, an equalization rate represents the average level of
    assessment in each community. For example, an equalization rate of 80 means that, on
    average, the property in a community is being assessed at 80% of its market value. The words
    “on average” are stressed to emphasize that that an equalization rate of 80 does not mean that
    each and every property is assessed at 80% of full value. Some may be assessed at lower than
    80%, while others may be assessed at higher than 80%.Equalization rates are established by the New York State Board of Equalization and Assessment. School districts that comprise more than one city, town or village must use the equalization rate to determine the tax rates for each municipality. The purpose is to bring some semblance of equity to how the taxes are distributed in any one school district, so that ideally a home with a full market value of $100,000 in one community will pay the same taxes as a home with a market value of $100,000 in the next community, regardless of how those two homes are assessed.
  • Expenditure: Payment of cash or transfer of property or services for the purpose of acquiring
    an asset or service.
  • Fiscal Year: A fiscal year is the accounting period on which a budget is based. The New York
    State fiscal year runs from April 1 through March 31. The fiscal year for all New York counties
    and towns and for most cities is the calendar year. School districts in the State operate on a July 1 through June 30 fiscal year.
  • Reserved/Unreserved Fund Balance: Reserved fund balance is the portion of fund balance
    set aside for specific purposes such as the Reserve for Encumbrances, Reserve for Repairs, or
    Tax Certiorari Reserve, etc. Each reserve fund has certain establishment and use requirements.
  • Unreserved fund balance is the residual amount of fund balance after all reserves have been
    taken into account. Unreserved fund balance consists of appropriated (designated) fund
    balance and unappropriated (undesignated) fund balance. Appropriated fund balance is the
    portion of unreserved fund balance that has been used to reduce taxes in the subsequent fiscal
    year. Unappropriated fund balance is limited by Real Property Tax Law Section 1318 to an
    amount not to exceed 4% of the new year’s budget.
  • Fundamental Operating Budget (FOB): The total amount of money required to pay for
    current ­year programs, staffing and services at next year’s prices — i.e., what the next year’s
    budget would be if the current year’s budget were simply “rolled over.”
  • Homestead: Residential properties.
  • Non­-homestead: Commercial properties.
  • Revenue: Sources of income financing the operation of the school district.
  • Salaries: The total amount paid to an individual, before deductions, for services rendered while
    on the payroll of the district.
  • Tax base: Assessed value of local real estate that a school district may tax for yearly
    operational monies.
  • Tax levy: Total sum to be raised by the school district after subtracting out all other revenues
    including state aid. The tax levy is used to determine the tax rate for property owners in each of the cities, towns or villages that makes up a school district.
  • Tax rate: The amount of tax paid for each $1,000 of assessed value of property. In districts that
    cover just one municipality, the tax rate is figured simply by dividing the total assessed property value by 1,000 and then dividing that again into the tax levy (the amount of money to be raised locally). In districts that encompass more than one municipality, the formula for figuring the tax rate is more complicated. It involves assigning a share of the total tax levy to each municipality and applying equalization rates to take into account different assessment practices.
  • STAR: New York State’s School Tax Relief (STAR) Program provides property tax exemptions
    (also known as homestead exemptions) for New York homeowners. Basic STAR is available to
    anyone who owns and lives in his or her own home and earns less than $500,000. Enhanced
    STAR is available to senior homeowners whose incomes do not exceed $79,050.
  • State Aid: State Aid is additional money that the state gives to districts, to be used in different
    areas, such as lowering the tax levy, etc. Until the state passes its budget, the district does not
    know exactly how much to expect in state aid, but school districts are still required to present
    their budgets to voters on the third Tuesday in May. To meet that mandate, the district had to
    estimate its state aid revenues.
  • Supplies: Consumable materials used in the operation of the school district including food,
    textbooks, paper, pencils, office supplies, custodial supplies, material used in maintenance
    activities and computer software.
  • Tax certiorari: The legal process by which a property owner can challenge the real estate tax
    assessment on a given property in attempt to reduce the property’s assessment and real estate
    taxes.