PLEASE RELEASE: August 22, 2005 Board of Education sets 2005-06 tax rate The Scotia-Glenville Board of Education on Monday unanimously set the 2005-06 tax rate for residents of Scotia and Glenville at $29.11 per $1,000 assessed value. That is a $1.62 per $1,000 or 5.9% increase over this year's tax rate of $27.49 per $1,000. That increase is slightly less than what voters in May were told to expect before they approved the $40.059 million budget for 2005-06. "These are difficult fiscal times for schools and for the Scotia-Glenville community and we are very grateful for the support we continue to receive," said Superintendent Susan Swartz. "We are doing the best job we can to provide a quality education at a reasonable cost for more than 3,000 children and their parents." For the first time in years, the state budget was adopted before voters went to the polls in May. That allowed the district to better estimate the rate increase and have a more firm idea of expected state aid, which accounts for about 38 percent of district operating income. The $1.62 per $1,000 tax rate increase means the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would pay a tax bill of $2,911, an increase of $162 in school taxes before reductions from the state's basic STAR program. STAR will reduce that typical bill by about $760. Tax bills will be mailed by the town of Glenville and are due without penalty during the month of September. While 99% of Scotia-Glenville residents live in the town of Glenville/village of Scotia, the rest live in the towns of Amsterdam and Charlton. These are the 2005-06 tax rates for those areas followed by last year's rates in parenthesis: Amsterdam, $162.59 per $1,000 assessed value ($171.03 - partial assessment) Charlton, $21.54 per $1,000 assessed value ($23.09) MEDIA: For more information, Superintendent Susan M. Swartz at 382-1215 or Robert Hanlon, Communications Office, at 386-4343