Carthage school district unexpectedly gets nearly $5M

TOWN OF CHAMPION, New York (WWNY) - An unexpected payment comes in for the Carthage Central School District - close to $5 million in additional revenue.

It’s Federal Impact Aid, a pot of money that’s unpredictable for school districts with a large number of students from military families.

“Impact aid, when it comes in, is used to stabilize our budget,” said Carthage Superintendent Jennifer Premo.

At Carthage, the money makes up about 14 percent of the district’s budgeted revenue.

In the 2022-2023 school year, the district budgeted for about $3.75 million. It got $9.2 million, nearly 2.5 times what was projected.

“We budget based on what the projection is. If it comes in more than that, it’s unanticipated additional revenue that becomes part of our district fund balance,” said Premo.

That excess gets saved in the fund balance because the money comes in after the budget is set, so how it is or is not used falls to the next year’s budget.

Premo says state aid is the real backbone of the budget, making up 71 percent of district revenue over the last several years.

Meanwhile, taxpayer money accounts for 10 percent of all revenue. Premo says the district has held at a zero percent increase to the tax levy for a decade.

“Largely due to the fact we receive this Federal Impact Aid and we can use that to stabilize our fund balance,” said Premo.

Because the federal aid is dictated by the enrollment of military students, the new task force bringing 1,500 military personnel and their families to Fort Drum is an exciting prospect for enrollment at Carthage.

“The number of students we have directly impacts every facet of what we do during the school day,” said Premo.

More students could mean a need for more teachers, classrooms, bus drivers, counselors and other support services to accommodate them.

So, Premo says that extra $5 million or so to bolster the fund balance means less reliance on the taxpayer when it comes to those possible future changes.

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