Bedford School District Residents to Receive Lower Tax Bills

Tax bills for homeowners in the Bedford Central School district will be lower than originally forecast for the 2010-11 school year.

At its July 27 meeting, the Board of Education voted to appropriate $4,383,184 from the fund balance to reduce the 2010-11 tax levy and set tax rates that call for a .73 percent increase, rather than the 1.54 percent increase estimated in the budget voters approved in May.

The district's non-tax revenue—which comes from state aid, county sales tax and tuition, among other sources—was $869,885 higher than expected, reported Mark Betz, assistant superintendent for business.

A big chunk of the increase came from the state reimbursing the district $202,142 for the MTA tax. "We did not budget for MTA tax, and when the state decided to pay us back, it counts as a receiveable," he said.

In addition, a $634,648 refund of prior years' expenses—unspent money that was approved for expenses—came in as revenue.

District residents previously approved  a  $116,481,460 spending plan, which represents a 1.7 percent increase over the 2009-10 budget. The levy, which was initially expected to be $104,207,497, will now decrease to $103,374,313. The tax levy is the portion of the budget funded by property taxes.

The tax rates have now been set, with Bedford tax rates increasing to 3.72 percent, Mount Kisco up 1.10 percent, North Castle at 1.19 percent and New Castle at .13 percent. The tax rate for Pound Ridge residents will drop by 2.96 percent.

The new estimated tax rates per $1,000 of assessed value are as follows:

• Bedford: $125.26
• Mount Kisco: $62.34
• Pound Ridge: $75.71
• New Castle: $63.17
• North Castle: $568.18

Betz said the district did a little better on the expenditure side as well, with employee benefits coming in 11 percent lower than planned. "We hope to have another good year in that area," he said.

Betz said that any changes in the final audit process would be minor and would not affect the tax warrant, but he cautioned on the use of fund balance as revenue.

"We need to be cognizant of [the way we are using fund balance.] We need to find a way to increase income, or cut spending throughout the year."