sed seal

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                 

 

 

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

TO:

The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents

 

 

FROM:

Theresa E. Savo  

 

SUBJECT:

2009-2010 Budget Development Process

 

DATE:

November 7, 2008

 

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 1-6

 

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

 

 

Executive Summary

 

 

Issue for Decision

 

Approval of the proposed 2009-2010 Regent Budget Priorities.

 

Reason(s) for Consideration

 

This is the final step in the 2009-2010 budget and legislative development process.

 

Proposed Handling

 

              Discussion

 

Procedural History

 

          The Department budget and legislative proposals are developed over several months and involve staff from all areas of the Department. The Department budget and legislative proposals are expected to:

 

 

 

 

Background Information

 

Each year the Commissioner and Deputies review the existing initiatives, make necessary adjustments, additions or deletions and then involve the respective Regents Standing Committees in the review and evaluation of the recommended budget and legislative priority areas, themes and initiatives for the upcoming year.  The draft budget and legislative priority areas, themes and initiatives, reflecting any changes recommended by the Regents Standing Committees, are reviewed with the Full Board which then acts on the final budget and legislative and State Aid proposals.

 

Recommendation

 

I recommend that the Board of Regents approve the 2009-2010 Regents Budget Proposal as presented.

 

Timetable for Implementation

 

              N/A

 

 

Attachments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY OF 2009-2010

REGENTS BUDGET PRIORITIES

($ Millions)

                                                                                                           Request

I.  Ensure Program Stability for School Districts

 

State Aid -- Maintain Foundation Aid Formula                                             TBD

 

II. Maintain Core State Education Department Operations

 

Fee increases (no General Fund impact)

 

        Stabilize funding for program operations through fee adjustments:

 

                                                                                              Total Revenue Increase:          $22.0

 

       Level Funding for General Fund State Operations  

 

Raise student achievement with existing resources through data, best practices and organization and maintain support for key operations.
 
Level Funding for Special Revenue Operations  
 
No further reductions in revenue generating accounts such as: Professions, Cultural Education, Proprietary School Supervision, Teacher Certification, and Departmentwide Cost Recovery.
 

 

To the extent feasible, under the current State fiscal situation, these programs should be maintained.  They each fall into one or more of the following three categories:

 

 

A description of proposed fee increases and a complete listing of Aid to Localities programs showing current funding levels are included in Appendix A.

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX A

2009-2010 REGENTS BUDGET PRIORITY DETAIL

 

i. ensure program stability for districts

 

 

II. Maintain core state education department operations

 

Fee Increases (no General Fund Impact)

 

Program Area:  Cultural Education

 

 

The Cultural Education account was created by an act of the Legislature in 2002, which also transferred to it all Office of Cultural Education functions previously supported by state General Fund operations appropriations.  It provides a major share of the operational funding for the State Museum, State Archives, State Library, and Office of Public Broadcasting and Educational Television. The fund also provides annual support of $1,200,000 to the General Fund; $1,000,000 to the Summer School for the Arts; up to $650,000 for the Empire State Performing Arts Center program; and up to $3,272,300 for the New York State Theater Institute program.

 

The CE account is modeled after the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF), which provides funding for local government grants and related operations.  LGRMIF is funded by a county-collected surcharge of $5.00 for recording, entering, indexing, or endorsing a certificate on any instrument or for assigning an index number to actions pending in county court or Supreme Court.  The 2002 statutory change kept the LGRMIF charge in place and applied an additional $15.00 surcharge to support the new CE account.  Counties retain $.25 of each LGRMIF surcharge and $.75 of each CE account surcharge to defray their collection expense.

 

The balance in the CE account has experienced increases and decreases over the life of the fund. This is due to national and state economic conditions at any given time that have suppressed the housing market and, therefore, affected the number of transactions subject to the surcharge.  Annual revenue from fees has declined more than 32 percent from the historically high levels of the first several years and revenue from interest has declined 84 percent from two years ago and will disappear by next year. Annual revenue (before transfers out of the fund) is now below the cost of operating the Office of Cultural Education’s programs. The current economic downturn has reduced revenue severely, causing the account balance to decline sharply.  Reserve funds will be exhausted within the next year.

 

Legislation is needed to amend the current fee structure to provide an additional $7.50 surcharge, including $.25 to be retained by the counties.


Program Area:  The Professions

 

 

The licensing fees for the professions have not increased since the 1980s even though statutes have been enacted mandating that SED establish and regulate numerous new professional licenses and programs.  Legislation is needed to give SED authority to implement a 10 percent across-the-board fee increase, which would enable us to fully discharge our responsibility to protect the public.  The requested fee increase would allow the Office of the Professions to investigate and prosecute illegal practice, upgrade outdated technology, investigate and prosecute more discipline cases and secure expert witnesses, cover the increase in expense for providing peer assistance to nurses in the Professional Assistance Program, fully fund meetings of the state boards, cover the increased cost to manage the licensee photo ID program and pay credit card company fees for licensees who use our online registration.

 

Level Funding for General Fund State Operations

 

Program Area:  P-16 - EMSC

 

Accountability - The 2008-2009 appropriation for accountability funds was $13.5 million. Continued funding is necessary to continue the work started in 2007 including, but not limited to, the following:

 

                                                                                                                                                 $13,482,675

 

GED Funds - SED, which is responsible for the administration of the GED Test in New York State, must increase the number of public testing centers to relieve the current backlog and to decrease the wait time for test candidates.  The GED test is an international exam developed by the GED Testing Service (GEDTS) of the American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington D.C.  When individuals are successful in passing the GED test, they receive a certificate or diploma that is regarded as equivalent to a high school diploma.  The GED test is administrated throughout New York State through a contract between GED Testing Service of the ACE and the SED.  The GED test is given in three languages, English, French and Spanish.  An average of 60,000 adults (age 17 and above) take the GED test each year.                   $3,487,519

 

Program Area:  P-16 - Higher Education

 

Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability – Chapter 181 of the Laws of 2000 requires fingerprinting of prospective employees of school districts, charter schools and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) and applicants for teacher and administrator certification.  The Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability (OSPRA) meets the Department’s responsibilities under the statute by developing and maintaining databases, processing fingerprint cards and evaluating criminal records.  The 2008-2009 Enacted Budget provided $600,000 of additional funding for OSPRA.  This level of funding needs to be maintained so that OSPRA may continue their services to the public.   $1,500,000

 
Level Funding for Special Revenue Operations
 

 

 

 

 

 

III.  Maintain Aid to Localities Programs administered by sed

 

Program Area:  P-16 - EMSC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Program Area:  P-16 – Higher Education

 

 

 

 

 

 

Program Area:  VESID

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                           $12,361,276

 

 

 

In addition, the potential impact of a further reduction in the State appropriation for either of these programs includes:

 
 
*Source: Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, Investing in America Fiscal Year 2007 Report
                                                                                                                                                                 
 

 

Program Area:  Cultural Education

 

 
New York’s libraries are struggling to meet these increased public service demands in the face of rising operational costs.  Library systems are key to assisting local libraries to achieve further cost savings through cooperative programs and shared services, particularly shared computer and internet access services.                                                                                                              $97,094,646

 

            
New York State’s public television stations provide free access to Adult Education and English as a Second Language video.  New York’s public television stations provide free arts, news and cultural affairs programs to all citizens of the State.
 
As community-based, 501(C) (3) charitable institutions, New York’s public broadcasters are facing significant decreases in individual giving and institutional giving, their traditional sources of funding.  State Aid enables the stations to maintain their education services and serves as a leveraging factor in local fund-raising.                                                                                                                      $18,387,166

 

 

 
The LGRMIF, a self-supported fund, is the single most cost-effective way to ensure that local government records remain protected and available to the public.  Reductions seriously impact the grantees' ability to improve how local governments manage their records, prepare for records disasters, and provide public access to their records.                                                                                                   $11,829,000