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Reporter Editorial: State budget boosts education, environment

BARBARAELLEN KOCH FILE PHOTO New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

For New Yorkers, this may be the best of times judging by the just adopted state budget.
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s draft proposal left a lot of critics speculating on his motivations at a time when he clearly wants to make folks happy as he appears to be eyeing a 2020 White House run. Perhaps he wanted to appear to be fiscally conservative.

Whatever the reason, what the governor got wrong, the New York State legislature has set right.

On the education front, school districts will see more in state aid than Mr. Cuomo was offering. State aid for the Island school rises to $606,142, a 5.97 increase over the $571,985 appropriated for the current school year, instead of the 4.69 percent increase under Mr. Cuomo’s draft.

Tim Laube, the school’s business official, notes that only about $18,000 of the $34,147 increase will be accessible; the remainder is tied to specific types of spending that are not applicable here.

But at a time when every penny helps keep spending from piercing the state-imposed tax rate cap, he is grateful for any increase in state aid.

The legislature also beat back a Cuomo proposal to level off so-called “foundation aid” — money supposed to ensure that every child in New York receives a sound education.

The governor’s plan would have changed the foundation aid formula from one that gets recalculated every year to one that levels off funding at the numbers for the 2017-18 school year.

The old formula that has been effective remains in place. Score one for the legislators who realized the importance of this funding.

On the environmental side, while the governor has talked about the importance of clean water and the need to deal with aged septic systems in Suffolk County, the legislature stepped up again and increased money aimed at helping to replace the old systems with new technology.

This spending is critical if we are to protect our waters and guarantee that drinking water remains potable.

Shelter Island has also been the recipient of money provided by Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) who has succeeded in bringing home the bacon for significant projects here.

Given that the Island sends more money to both the state and Suffolk County than it gets back in services, this budget is a step forward in evening the score.