New
Hartford schools chief proposes 2.5% tax hike
By
ELIZABETH COOPER
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Mar 27,
2010 @ 09:09 PM
NEW
HARTFORD —
School Superintendent Robert Nole pitched a
2.5 percent tax hike for district residents at a Saturday morning meeting of
the Board of Education.
Although the state has not yet finalized its 2010-11 budget, Nole said he had
to factor a proposed decrease in state funding of 1.3 million for the district
into his own 2010-11 budget.
It’s possible that some of those funds could be restored during the state
budget negotiations. But even if a portion were returned, the state has been
known to propose mid-year cuts later, he said.
“We have to proceed with caution,” he told the board.
The increase would mean district taxpayers would pay $25.41 per $1,000 of their
assessed property values, up from $24.78 for the previous year.
For a house assessed at $200,000, that would mean a school tax increase of
$200.
The proposed $46,646,335 New Hartford school budget is 1.16 percent higher than
the current year’s spending plan. It retains all existing programs and
maintains current class sizes, Nole said.
Board of Education President James Davis called the plan “very responsible.”
“It’s very responsive to the needs of the taxpayers while at the same time
staying extremely focused on instructional programs,” he said.
Nole said he had held the line on costs by following a multi-year spending
program that did not incorporate promised state aid increases. When those
increases did not materialize, his budget was not impacted.
Additionally, the district has been downsizing its staff by attrition when
school officials deemed it prudent. Over the past three years, 12 positions
have been eliminated after retirements.
In the 2010-2011 budget, Nole is eliminating three administrative positions in
the same way.
The district has also limited its expenditures. For example, the school
newsletter is no longer printed in color. And energy purchases are being pooled
with other districts and municipalities, Nole said.
Asked if the district could expect tax increases in upcoming years, Nole said
the district does not have any structural deficits in its budget, and that its
$25.7 million capital project is not seeing overruns.
“We can’t predict what is going to happen,” Nole cautioned. “We are in an
economic cycle that everyone is very sensitive to. We are hopeful we are
beginning to see a recovery.”
The school board will vote on the budget at its April 6 meeting. The public
vote will be May 18.
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