For the first time in five years, Albany has gotten its act together and passed a budget on time -- indeed, a day early.
That's the good news. The bad news? With all the cuts required to close a $10 billion budget gap, state-run services are being slashed across New York State.
Here's a look at the sector that took some of the deepest cuts: education. In February, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed to cut $1.5 billion from state aid to schools; since then, $230 million of that has been added back in. Of the $230 million restored, $51 million is going to New York City, $45 million to Long Island, and $134 million to the rest of the state.
Locally, here's a spreadsheet of how the cuts break down by district in Delaware, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster Counties. (For Greene County schools, check out this item on WGXC's news blog -- they've done similar calculations for Greene and Columbia Counties. And to see the figures statewide, check out the state's 86-page breakdown of figures by county and district.)
As you can see from perusing the numbers, a few schools actually saw their state aid increase: Downsville, Sharon Springs, and New Paltz.
| 2011/2012 aid minus 2010/2011 aid | Percent change in aid compared to last year | Total school budget | Change in aid as percent of budget | |
| Delaware County | ||||
| Andes | -$60,164 | -7.9 | $3,686,451 | -1.63 |
| Downsville | $279,695 | 19.17 | $7,876,203 | 3.55 |
| Charlotte Valley | -$54,673 | -1.1 | $8,371,676 | -0.65 |
| Delhi | -$373,509 | -4.24 | $18,508,246 | -2.02 |
| Franklin | -$130,771 | -3.99 | $6,206,360 | -2.11 |
| Hancock | -$685,383 | -11.6 | $10,323,994 | -6.64 |
| Margaretville | -$353,079 | -11.07 | $10,835,378 | -3.26 |
| Roxbury | -$119,515 | -3.87 | $9,572,183 | -1.25 |
| Sidney | -$358,994 | -2.41 | $23,697,275 | -1.51 |
| Stamford | -$265,783 | -5.45 | $8,542,588 | -3.11 |
| South Kortright | -$227,096 | -5.88 | $8,192,804 | -2.77 |
| Walton | -$91,167 | -0.77 | $18,979,968 | -0.48 |
| Schoharie County | ||||
| Gilboa-Conesville | -$117,217 | -3.79 | $10,038,546 | -1.17 |
| Jefferson | -$196,091 | -6.03 | $5,755,175 | -3.41 |
| Middleburgh | -$270,369 | -2.63 | $20,431,575 | -1.32 |
| Cobleskill-Richmond | -$1,309,582 | -6.7 | $36,082,646 | -3.63 |
| Schoharie | -$937,261 | -9.89 | $19,888,008 | -4.71 |
| Sharon Springs | $44,174 | 0.97 | $8,179,380 | 0.54 |
| Sullivan County | ||||
| Fallsburgh | -$516,806 | -3.36 | $35,579,068 | -1.45 |
| Eldred | -$437,148 | -8.03 | $16,803,000 | -2.6 |
| Liberty | -$623,656 | -3.17 | $39,053,693 | -1.6 |
| Tri-Valley | -$448,032 | -5.26 | $29,804,196 | -1.5 |
| Roscoe | -$186,686 | -7.31 | $7,343,974 | -2.54 |
| Livingston Manor | -$74,653 | -1.29 | $14,493,556 | -0.52 |
| Monticello | -$1,526,558 | -5.29 | $75,985,992 | -2.01 |
| Sullivan West | -$698,486 | -5.02 | $32,654,377 | -2.14 |
| Ulster County | ||||
| Kingston | -$1,112,208 | -2.34 | $140,489,254 | -0.79 |
| Highland | -$669,473 | -5.73 | $35,827,312 | -1.87 |
| Rondout Valley | -$780,429 | -3.66 | $60,140,165 | -1.3 |
| Marlboro | -$809,130 | -7.84 | $49,429,435 | -1.64 |
| New Paltz | $14,414 | 0.11 | $48,830,000 | 0.03 |
| Onteora | -$1,145,592 | -13.51 | $50,054,196 | -2.29 |
| Saugerties | -$951,768 | -4.96 | $53,101,923 | -1.79 |
| Wallkill | -$1,151,314 | -4.61 | $63,874,681 | -1.8 |
| Ellenville | -$687,048 | -4.13 | $40,867,563 | -1.68 |
