Bedford Central BOE Set to Adopt 2012-13 Budget

Bedford Central's school board is slated this Wednesday to send its proposed budget to the voters, according to Superintendent Jere Hochman

The board will consider a revised budget proposal for the 2012-13 school year, which was unveiled at its April 12 meeting. Changes include the addition of $75,000 in rental revenue from the Towne Bus Corp., which will take over all of the district's transportation.

At the same time, the district will add on $69,417 in expenses because several jobs slated for the chopping block are proposed to be spared. They include retaining two gym teachers ($85,948), a learning specialist ($96,869) and a contracted student assistance counselor ($68,000). The district is expected to realize savings by purchasing materials for its new elementary-level math program this year instead of next (saving $250,000) and by eliminating a Fox Lane High School guidance office position through attrition ($54,617).

Bedford Central will still see a large wave of cuts, mainly due to the remaining one third of its in-house transportation work. The proposed budget, according to Assistant Superintendent for Business Mark Betz, now calls for cuts of 51.5 classified positions and 3.9 that are certified. This includes about 37 who will be laid off because of the transportation restructuring.

The budget could be slightly larger, rising to $121,698,040, up from the $121,628,623 called for in March. The increase in the tax levy, which is the total amount of taxes the district plans to raise for revenue, will be slightly less than in the earlier proposed. Now, it is expected to rise by 2.69 percent (to $108,063,040) versus the previous projection for 2.7-percent (to $108,068,623).

The revised budget does not change the amount of reserves that will be spent to keep costs in check. The total remains at $4,630,000.

Meanwhile, board members are considering which funds to place a projected budget surplus into. The district is expected to have $2,041,807 on hand at the end of the school year that must be given specific purposes, as it can only keep up to four percent of the coming year's budget in an undesignated category, or without a purpose. Options being considered include using a large portion for a reserve that will be for refunding tax challenges for 2011-12 (the amount considered ranges between more than $900,000 to about $1.1 million). Other possibilities include using portions for a reserve to handle one of its pension funds, as well as capital projects.

The board is expected to meet on Wednesday at Fox Lane Middle School, with a start start between 7-8 p.m.