Schroon school budgeted will be revoted

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June 3, 2008

Tax increase trimmed 4% for second school vote

By LOHR McKINSTRY The Press Republican Tue Jun 03, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

SCHROON LAKE -- After reducing the tax hike from 13 to 9 percent, Schroon Lake Central School Board will put the budget back up for public vote later this month.

The district's initial budget failed in a May 20 vote, 239 to 189, with many residents blaming the 13.8-percent tax increase that would have come with it.

So the district cut $168,615 from the budget, Superintendent Michael Bonnewell said, and came up with a $6.36 million spending plan to replace the $6.53 million budget that was defeated.

The new vote will be from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 17, in the school lobby.

Budget information presentations will be at 8 tonight in the cafeteria and 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, in the gymnasium.

The amount to be raised by taxes dropped from $5.09 million in the initial budget to $4.9 million in this one.

CUTS

The cuts made to the proposed budget are:

$90,000 salary and benefits by eliminating a new position that would have assisted curriculum development, financial functions and student supervision.

$27,250 employee/retiree health-insurance cost savings.

$22,000 planned minivan replacement postponed.

$10,000 reduction in salary for teachers' advanced study.

$9,000 reduction in occupational education enrollments.

$9,000 reduction in transportation and custodial services.

$1,365 reduction in School Board development activities and clerical substitutes.

"The district projects an additional $25,000 (fund balance) from this year's budget to offset the tax rate for 2008-2009, as we are now closer to the end of the current budget year than when the budget was developed from January to April," Bonnewell said.

CONSTRUCTION COST

Without counting a planned building project, the revamped budget increased 5 percent, or $289,000, over this year.

It is up another 5.7 percent, or $329,000, to cover the school building project approved by voters in June 2007. That projects totals $14.7 million and is being financed with serial bonds.

The tax levy would have increased only 2.2 percent over last year without the building project, Bonnewell said. The building project added another 7.3-percent increase to the levy, making the total increase 9.5 percent.

He said the district cut everything it could cut to create the revised budget. The increase for the project is fixed and cannot be reduced.

NO TAX RATE

A new tax-rate calculation wasn't made, Bonnewell said.

"Two of the three legs' of that calculation -- total assessed value and equalization rates -- are not in yet. We have only the tax-levy leg of the equation. Given that we cover three towns and two counties, we have, in years past, seen some pretty significant changes in the assessments and equalizations, so estimating is far less than a science."

The current tax rate is $5.89 per $1,000 of assessment.

If the revised budget fails at the revote, the district must by law adopt a contingency spending plan.

Bonnewell said full copies of the budget will be available at the school, the Schroon and North Hudson town halls, the Schroon Senior Citizens Center and the Glens Falls National Bank Schroon Lake Branch. In addition, budget flyers will be mailed to all addresses in the district.

Schroon Lake was the only school district in the North Country to have its budget defeated May 20.

lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com