STAR

Late Friday, Comptroller DiNapoli put out a press release that included a link to a spreadsheet of district-by-district payments of state aid and STAR that were delayed in December. The total amounts add up to what the Division of Budget claimed were withheld. If you see any discrepancies in what are owed in the delayed state aid categories (general aid, excess cost, and VLT Lottery) or STAR, please let us know.  read more »

Unfortunately, as of Thursday afternoon we have not received any further clarification from either the Division of Budget (DOB) or Comptroller's Office regarding the extent and specific timing of payments owed to school districts. All we know is DOB sent a request for payment to the Comptroller and the processing of payments is expected to start tomorrow (Friday).  read more »

As Governor Paterson prepares to present his 2010-2011 Executive Budget next Tuesday, few details are leaking out on school aid. One thing is fairly certain - given the fact that DOB has projected anywhere from a $6 billion to $9 billion deficit for next year, a school aid cut will be proposed. In his 2009-2010 executive budget proposal, Governor Paterson proposed a freeze in Foundation Aid along with a deficit reduction assessment (DRA) for 2009-2010 of $1.1 billion. In the final budget agreement, the DRA was back-filled with Federal ARRA funds.  read more »