Bedford Central to Get Cut in its '12-'13 Tax Hike

Taxpayers in the Bedford Central School District will see a slightly lower tax increase than what was projected when the 2012-13 budget passed in May.

It was announced at Wednesday's school board meeting that the tax levy, which is the total amount of property tax revenue to be collected for the budget, will be 2.6 percent. It is a drop from the 2.69 percent that was projected for voters.

Mark Betz, assistant superintendent for business, explained that the new figure is because the district had more money on hand at the end of the previous school year, which concluded on June 30.

"Because our revenue exceeded our expenditures, the board was able to appropriate $100,000 more than we had expected to help lower the tax levy and tax rates by about nine-tenths of a percent," he responded.

A major reason for the extra cash was the district's sale of its bus fleet, which was done because transportation is being outsourced to the Towne Bus Corp. ; the change involved 37 job cuts.

The levy increase is above the state-mandated 2-percent property tax levy cap but, for legal purposes, is allowed because it includes exemptions such as changes to the tax base.