Schumer proposes help with fuel costs

WASHINGTON - School districts could get help in coping with rising fuel costs, a looming crisis that threatens to blow holes in budgets throughout the state next school year, under legislation proposed by Sen. Chuck Schumer.

The bills - the Hybrid Tax Credit and School Energy Crisis Relief Act of 2008 - would expand tax credits for districts that buy hybrid buses and give grants to low-income districts hit hard by increasing costs.

Diesel fuel costs will rise an estimated 67 percent to $22 million in Hudson Valley school districts, leaving them with a combined budget shortfall of $5 million, according to data from the New York State Association of Pupil Transportation and the state Education Department.

"No school should have to make a choice between books and transporting kids," Schumer said.

To help districts lower their transportation costs, Schumer is introducing legislation to expand an existing tax credit that would help school districts that purchase hybrid buses, which get about twice the mileage of conventional models. The credit would be given to manufacturers of the hybrid buses and passed on to the districts in lower costs for the buses, the Democratic senator said.

A conventional diesel school bus costs about $80,000 while a hybrid costs about $180,000. Schumer's legislation would reduce that cost by about $18,000. The current tax credit knocks only about $6,000 off the price.

If all 50,000 New York school buses were replaced by hybrids, it could save the state's school districts about $45 million a year, Schumer said.

"And it's a gift that keeps on giving because you'd save that much every year," he said.

The problem, school officials said, is that they already are cash-strapped and can't afford to buy the hybrid buses, even with the tax break. In addition, hybrid vehicles are more costly to maintain so any fuel savings likely would be eaten up by higher repair costs, said David Chapman, assistant superintendent for business in the Mahopac school district.

Hybrids are "not very durable, as of yet," said Chapman, adding his district spent $520,000 on biodiesel fuel last year, nearly 40 percent more than budgeted. "So you might save it on the energy side, but it will incur more on the maintenance side."

Sandra Cokeley, spokeswoman for the Pearl River school district, said she didn't think it would make financial sense for any district to spend $100,000 more to buy a hybrid bus, even with a larger tax credit. Pearl River, like many other districts, contracts out the majority of its transportation services. The district owns a minibus and several station wagons.

"It begs the question: How long would the hybrid need to be on the road before you would realize the return on your investment?" she said.

Schumer said he saw the tax credit as a long-term solution that could help districts cut energy costs when aging buses broke down and needed to be replaced.

In the short term, he is introducing a bill to give emergency grants to districts that can't afford rising energy bills. The grants would give priority to low-income districts, such as Mount Vernon, which spent $3.3 million on oil, natural gas and electricity last year, 26 percent more than was budgeted.

The East Ramapo school district could also benefit from the proposals, school board President Nathan Rothschild said. He said he would discuss the need to acquire 10 hybrid school buses at the first board meeting of the new school year and believed the technology would pay for itself.

"It's a win-win," Rothschild said. "We'll use less gas, (and) what we use is better for our environment."

Throughout New York and the nation, school districts are dealing with rising energy bills by consolidating bus routes, eliminating field trips and cutting after-school and athletic programs, according to a new survey by the American Association of School Administrators. About a third of school districts said they were cutting back on basic supplies.

It hasn't come to that in Pocantico Hills, which last year spent $36,500 in fuel on its 16-bus fleet, $8,000 more than expected.

Superintendent Fred Smith said despite the greater expenses associated with hybrid buses, it would be beneficial in the long term for the state to force districts to switch to the vehicles.

"They should mandate that all school buses go hybrid," Smith said. "That's why we're having high fuel prices, we're not forcing any alternatives in this discussion."