Schools

Final Bedford School Budget Has 1.54% Tax Increase, Restores Some Jobs

Budget will be put up for a vote on May 18.

The Bedford Central School District Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve a final budget for 2010-11 to be sent to the voters on May 18.

The final budget calls for a 1.54 percent tax levy increase, down from 1.58 percent in the preliminary budget unveiled at the board's March 3 meeting. The total budget will be $116,481,460, or a 1.70 percent budget-to-budget spending increase from last year. Most of the budget revenue ($104,207,497) will come from taxes, while $12,273,963 will come from non-tax money, such as reserves and other unused funds.

The tax increase for Mount Kisco will be 1.82 percent, while Bedford will see a 4.45 percent hike. New Castle residents who are in the district will see a small increase of just 0.83 percent, while Pound Ridge residents will see a tax decrease of 2.27 percent.

Find out what's happening in Chappaqua-Mount Kiscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The tax rates by towns fluctuate due to, according to Assistant Superintendent For Business and presenter Mark Betz, factors such as property values in each of the towns, sales levels and reduction in property values. All of these affect each town differently, he said. For a full explanation, click here for a presentation Betz did at a March board meeting.

Notable in the final budget are fewer layoffs than in its March 3 preliminary budget. In the final version, there is a reduction of 19.45 positions, in contrast to 27.85 in the original. Some positions (1.60) were restored in a March 24 school board meeting, while 6.80 were restored in addition for the final budget. These include two high school teachers, a high school security monitor and gym teaching positions at the high school and middle school.

Find out what's happening in Chappaqua-Mount Kiscowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The positions were restored in the budget because the district will set aside $350,000 in tax certiorari reserves collected between the 2004-05 and 2008-09 school years. It should also be noted that 6.45 of the planned final position reductions are due to enrollment and section changes.

With steep cuts in staffing over the past two school years, the budget lists a total district staff of 437 for the 2010-11 school year, down from 490 in 2008-09.

The Board of Education also took up discussion on how to plan for its contingency budget, which would go into effect if the final budget gets rejected at the polls. The school board has the discretion to put a budget up for a second vote in mid June before going to the contingency if it's voted down again, or it can adopt a contingency after one defeat. A contingency does not require the approval of voters.

For the Bedford Central School District, the budget in that scenario is estimated at $114,418,225, and a 0.10 percent spending increase. Under a contingency budget, the restored positions would be cut.

At issue during the debate amongst board members over the contingency budget was how much fund balance reserve money would be used, and what its corresponding tax levy would be. During the discussion, board members weighed in over whether to spend a smaller amount, thereby keeping more fund balance reserves for future years, or using up larger amounts of reserves to keep taxes down, but decreasing savings for upcoming school years.

Proposed ranges went from a low of $1.5 million of reserves and an accompanying 1.52 percent tax increase, to a high of $3.55 million being spent with a 0.47 tax decrease.

Board Member Mark Chernis summarized the debate when he said that the question was how much they were comfortable and willing to go into the reserves. "Maybe, to keep the tax rate down," he added.

Fellow Board Member Erika Long talked about the impact on the education of kids in the district, noting that they only have one shot in their grades.

For reporting purposes to the state, the board agreed go with a $2 million fund balance figure, which would result in a 1.04 percent tax increase. Betz said that he will submit the information for a formal vote at the next meeting.

Long said she supports the $2 million amount because it provides a balance.

"That to me, I think, strikes a balance between needing to save money for the future, because we're going to have a bunch of deferred costs potentially, and other revenue and cost issues going forward if we're in a contingency budget."

The school district has uploaded each of its budget presentations online, including Wednesday's. For the full archive, click here.


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