Bedford School Board to Vote on Budget Tonight

Tonight, the Bedford Central School District will vote to adopt a proposed 2013-14, a step that is needed in order to place it on the ballot for next month’s public vote.

The board vote comes as the district is facing difficult decisions about its fiscal future. The most recent iteration unveiled calls for 21.5 job cuts, along with cutting several modified sports teams and clubs at Fox Lane High School and Fox Lane Middle School. The budget would also eliminate rotational music time at the middle and high school; rotationals are small-group lessons that focus on instruments, in contrast to large, multi-instrument ensembles.

The most recent budget version includes an increase in the tax levy, which is the total amount of property tax revenue to be collected, by 3.37 percent. The levy falls within a state-mandated cap because it includes exemptions such as pay for some pension contributions and changes to the local tax base. Meanwhile, the tax rate, which is what people owe per $1,000 of assessed property value, is projected to increase by 4.56 percent for Bedford, 0.68 percent for Mount Kisco, 2.30 percent for New Castle, 3.07 percent for Pound Ridge and 5.51 percent for North Castle. The tax rates vary because of the equalization rate, a figure used to apportion the tax levy and to reconcile the fact that towns assess at different percentages of property market value.

Voters will get a chance to decide whether to approve or reject the budget on May 21.

The school board’s meeting tonight starts at 8 p.m., at the middle school’s Little Theatre. Click here for the agenda.