S-G board approves $35.4M budget If voters say yes, taxes go up 10-13.5% By MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SCOTIA - The Scotia-Glenville Board of Education Monday night unanimously adopted a $35.4 million budget that carries a projected property tax rate increase of between 10 percent and 13.5 percent. If approved by residents on May 20, the budget will increase taxes on a $100,000 home between $239 and $321. Currently, school taxes on a $100,000 home average $2,400. The range is dependent upon the final state aid figures and retirement system contributions. Residents will also decide a $317,000 bus proposition and two seats on the seven-member board. Incumbents Karen Bradley and John Carpenter plan to seek re-election. Bradley said the board was taking "an enormous risk" with the adopted budget. She added, however, the board would have had to cut more than $100,000 to make a difference on the tax rate increase. To reduce the projected tax rate increase by 1 percent would require a corresponding cut of $175,000 from the budget. Carpenter said the board should not make any drastic changes in the budget because "we have put a plan out there in the community and we don't want to confuse people." The board's approval of the budget followed a debate on ways to reduce the projected tax rate further. After nearly 21Ú2 hours of department-by-department review, board members succeeded in slicing only $20,000 from the budget. They reduced overtime costs in the central services department. "There's not a lot in here to cut," Carpenter said. "I've become very frustrated." The board has been reluctant to cut further, due to its effect on the education program. "People support the approach we've taken to trim the budget," Bradley said. Over the course of a month, the board reduced the initial budget by $1 million. The revised budget resulted in the reduction of five K-5 teachers, one grade 6 teacher and 8.5 cleaning staff personnel. The board also cut the grades K-5 summer program, reduced course offerings in grades 6-12 and cut field trips and funding for textbooks and staff development. Based upon comments from school and community members, the board restored cuts to advanced placement classes, after-school clubs and activities, library media specialists, team teaching at the middle school and interscholastic athletics, music and art. Board member Ben Conlon wanted to see more cuts to the district's sports program, but other board members disagreed. "With a wink and a nod," Conlon said the board changed an established philosophy and raised class sizes in elementary levels with this budget. "The numbers have returned to where they were four years ago. Now we're looking at losing three, four maybe six more teachers if we were to go to a contingency budget. There are tradeoffs, but they haven't been made," Conlon said. Board member Daniel Magruder said the board reduced the sports program by approximately $40,000, which he said was proportional to the cuts in educational programs. Several board members said the community should decide whether the board should cut further. "I don't want to cut any more until the community tells us to. If it fails, then we go back and slash and burn," Magruder said. If residents twice reject the district's budget, the board would have to adopt a contingency plan. A contingency budget caps district spending at 1.9 percent above the current year's plan, or $550,000, requiring the board to cut an additional $1.1 million from the adopted budget. This would force the district to cut an additional 10 staff members, which would affect programs across the board.