CLYMER — Clymer Central School officials may have to borrow money to cover a possible state aid shortfall.

The district expects to receive a state aid check in June and August to close out the 2019-20 state budget’s state aid. Aid from the 2020-21 state budget begins with a small payment in October. District officials are concerned the June and August payments will be less than expected because of state revenues are between $10 and $15 billion less than anticipated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the Clymer Central School District’s board meeting last week, board members discussed moving ahead with paperwork to take out a Revenue Anticipation Note, a short-term loan that would cover a possible shortfall until state and local revenues are received. The formal Revenue Anticipation Note would still have to be approved by the district Board of Education because there are currently no loan details, including how much would be borrowed or when the loan would be paid back.

“I’m concerned about the June and the August check being short,” said Louann Bahgat, Clymer Central School business executive. “I’m concerned about tax collections being poor and that they’ll be delayed because people may not be able to pay in the fall. In this last year that we just finished I barely squeaked by without needing (a Revenue Anticipation Note). If somebody cuts the aid that we’re going to receive then I’m probably going to need money.”

Bahgat said she met with Dr. Richard Timbs of the Statewide School Finance Consortium, who said it would be wise for Bahgat to have something in place to borrow the money if needed. Bahgat said the district has been told to expect to receive about $175,000 less in state aid than previously promised.

If the note is needed, Bahgat will return to the board with an amount needed. Ed Mulkearn, board president, asked Bahgat what the worst-case scenario would be.

“Maybe half a million,” Bahgat said.

“What’s a good scenario?” Mulkearn asked.

“A good scenario is we don’t have to borrow anything,” Bahgat said. “I don’t think that will be the case. I think we’ll probably need to borrow at least a couple of hundred thousand. Payroll in the month of September and the bills for the month of September is probably about $400,000.”

Robert Mujica, state budget director, will determine if the budget is balanced during three measurement periods — April 1 to April 30, May 1 to June 30, and July 1 to Dec. 31. If the state’s General Fund is imbalanced during a measurement period, Mujica is given the ability to adjust or reduce any general fund or state special revenue fund as needed to bring the budget into balance. The budget is considered unbalanced if operating funds tax receipts are less than 99% of projection or if actual state operating funds disbursements are more than 101% of projections, or both.

The uncertainty and the inability to vote on school budgets during the pandemic prompted Gov. Andrew Cuomo to push school budget votes and school board elections into June.

“It’s very difficult to go into a budget season knowing we’re going to be $175,000 short on revenue knowing our district is in a bad financial spot already,” Collins said. “It’s going to be hard. If we can’t come up with more revenue we’re going to have to come up with more cuts. We don’t even know how voting is going to work for the budget, it’s such an unclear time on everything. It’s as important as ever to let us know what you’re thinking.”

Clymer needed a second vote to approve its 2019-20 school budget. The initial budget included a 13.29% tax levy increase and did not receive the required 60% support from district taxpayers. A revised $11,495,924 spending plan with a roughly 9% tax levy increase was later approved by voters. The approved budget didn’t cut any educational programs and didn’t require the district to exhaust its surplus.

Bahgat said she hopes to know when a vote will be held by the time the board holds its next meeting. If so, she will have a budget with cuts already in it for the board to review.

“The other thing that I want to stress is we knew last year when we asked for the almost 9% tax increase that it wasn’t going to be the panacea that was going to take care of all our problems,” Mulkearn said. “It was going to buy us some time to do some things and look at some different options, which I’m pleased to report we’ve done. We’ve been moving in that direction. We still have time. We’ve had this curveball with the COVID-19 and it’s really in the grand scheme of things very minimal what we’re doing compared to the distraction and what it’s doing to the staff and the kids in the school. That’s who’s really being disrupted. We have some questions we need to answer and we’re not getting answers, but no one’s getting answers yet. No one knows the answers to these. The governor doesn’t know the answers either. So we’ll just keep going and be hopeful as this thing plays out we’re able to take these lemons and make lemonade out of it. I think we will. I think we’ll make it through next year OK, and we have some options.”

In other business:

¯ Board members approved the retirement of William Graves, a utility worker who has worked for the district for 14 years, effect June 30. The board also approved the resignation of Rose Zinkowski, the district’s seventh through 12th grade school counselor, effective May 17. She has been at the district for two years.

¯ The district is working to hire a new director of facilities. Mulkearn said the final two candidates had been interviewed and Karen Krause, interim superintendent, is handling contract negotiations.