Complete report in PDF format

Average per-pupil spending under proposed 2013-14 school budgets will rise at the fastest rate in five years, according to an analysis issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy.

The Empire Center’s annual School Budget Spotlight focuses on proposed tax and spending changes measured on a per-pupil basis for school districts that have submitted data for the State Education Department’s annual school property tax report cards. The School Budget Spotlight provides proposed school spending and tax measures for every district in the state, arranged by county and summarized by region.

Based on the Empire Center’s analysis of state School Property Tax Report Card data:

The proposed per-pupil spending increase of 3.9 percent is the largest since 2008-09, when proposed increases came to 5.8 percent. By comparison, proposed per-pupil spending hikes averaged 2.6 percent a year between 2009-10 and 2012-13, and the state Division of the Budget has projected an inflation rate of just 2 percent for fiscal 2013-14.

On a regional basis, the biggest proposed spending increases are in the Mohawk Valley where the per-pupil average is up 4.6 percent among the schools in the state sample. Western NY has the lowest increases, with proposed per-pupil spending hikes of 2.9 percent. The Central New York, Mid-Hudson and Long Island regions also were above the statewide average of 3.9 percent.

The statewide average proposed tax hike, also 3.9 percent per pupil, is well above last year’s 3 percent proposed per-pupil increases but 0.7 percentage points below next year’s allowable limit of 4.6 percent under the state’s new property tax cap. As the Empire Center documented[1] in a recent report, the levy limit is well above the 2 percent statutory base cap this year as a result of a partial exclusion for rising teacher pension costs. Consistent with that report, the largest proposed levy increases are in poorer areas of the state.

Twenty-eight districts have proposed budgets exceeding the tax cap, which will require approval by more than 60 percent of voters in budget referenda next Tuesday, May 21.