Albany schools officials, citing an ongoing financial crisis, warn that the cash-strapped district may be forced to cut programs and hike property taxes — again.

So why did two administrators just receive substantial raises?

Under a contract approved late last month, the salary received by William Hogan, district business manager, will jump from $157,533 to $165,424 next year and to $172,107 by 2017.

Likewise, the new deal for Kathleen Culligan, the human resources administrator, increases her salary from $108,057 to $128,057 by 2015.

The district says Hogan and Culligan are both exemplary employees, and I have no reason to doubt that. And in a district with a $215 million budget, it’s true the raises are dewdrops in an ocean.

But isn’t this supposed to be an era of fiscal austerity for schools? And if so, why aren’t the best-paid Albany school district employees feeling the pain?

Taxpayers are — with more hurt coming.

The district, projecting a $6.2 million budget gap, will almost certainly ask voters to override the state’s property tax cap when the 2014-15 budget comes up for a vote in May.

Yet it went ahead with raises for Hogan and Culligan. How’s that for symbolism? What kind of message does that send?

“The timing is unfortunate and we realize that,” said district spokesman Ron Lesko, noting that contract talks with Hogan and Culligan had been ongoing for months. “We recognize why that’s causing angst in the community.”

Culligan, hired in 2012, is relatively new to Albany schools. Hogan came aboard six years ago and earned $135,000 in his first year with the district. Lesko credited him with guiding the system through the financial turmoil of recent years.

“He’s been a very valuable part of this school district,” Lesko said, “and this district believes in investing in leaders who are bringing us forward.”

In 2008, the year Hogan was hired, Albany schools had 31 employees making more than $100,000, according to SeeThroughNY, an online database maintained by the Empire Center for Public Policy.

We all know what happened that year. The economy collapsed. It still hasn’t recovered.

That result is that most New Yorkers have faced flat or declining incomes, as state ComptrollerTom DiNapoli noted in a recent report on housing costs.

But incomes in Albany kept rising for many: By 2013, it had 94 employees making more than $100,000. About half were administrators, Lesko says. The rest, presumably, were teachers.

Remember that the median household income in the Capital Region is about $52,000. So anyone making more than $100,000 is very well paid by the standards of the area.

As Lesko said, salaries being paid to Hogan and Culligan are generally comparable to what other large districts in the region are paying for similar jobs. But that only highlights that most districts have refused to slam the brakes on administrative salaries in the economic downturn.

In Albany, taxpayers would face a 5.5 percent tax increase if the district does nothing to close the gap, early estimates show. But officials are considering a range of changes that could ease the impact, including cuts to music and athletics and the elimination of Chinese classes and theInternational Baccalaureate diploma program.

Given the depth of the proposed cuts, I asked Hogan if he’d felt awkward about his raise, or if he’d considered forgoing it. He declined to comment on “issues that relate to my personal situation.”

The real problem, he said, “is that we’re not being adequately funded by New York state. That’s what the issue is.”

Hogan noted the difficulty of implementing “heart-wrenching” program cuts, year after year. The district also says it has shed 350 employees since 2008, and now has about 1,400 overall. The number of administrative positions fell from 54 to 46 during the time period.

Yet the district agreed to pay Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard $193,000 annually, about $24,000 more than the prior superintendent.

Budget cuts are hurting students. But the folks at the top are doing just fine.

© 2014, Albany Times Union