School Votes 2012 Primer: Chappaqua & Bedford Central

Today is election day for the Chappaqua and Bedford Central school districts, the first since passage of the annual tax levy cap. Heres an overview of what is at stake in each district:

Chappaqua School & Library Votes

The proposed 2012-13 budget calls for spending $112,202,888, an increase of 0.68 percent, or $754,400 from the current school year. The tax levy, which represents the total amount of property tax revenue to be collected, will rise by 2.11 percent (or $2,087,552) to $101,032,134. The increase comes in under the cap, which is 2 percent, because it includes exemptions such as pension costs and changes to the taxable base.

The tax rate, which represents the amount of money that taxpayers owe per $1,000 of assessed value (AV), will vary widely by town. New Castle residents could see an increase of 1.63 percent, or $1.60 per $1,000 AV. Mount Pleasant residents, however, will see an hike of 9.7 percent, or $114.41 per $1,000 AV. The difference is because of a forumla called the equalization rate, which is used to approprition the tax levy change among the district's overlapping towns, which assess their properties at different percentages of their market value.

In terms of personnel changes, the budget calls for cuts of 10.44 jobs.

On the school board side, incumbent Alyson Kiesel is running unopposed in her bid for a second, 3-year term.

Meanwhile, the Chappaqua Library, which is administratively part of the school district, has its own budget up for a vote. The library budget proposes a 2.98-percent tax levy increase, to $2,775,839. It comes under the levy cap due to exemptions. Spending is proposed to be $2,842,839, an increase of 2.75 percent. Meanwhile, the tax rates are proposed to increase by 2.34 percent in New Castle and 10.36 percent in Mount Pleasant.

Nobody signed up to run for an open library board seat, but write-in votes are welcome. If no winner emerges, the board will appoint someone to fill the seat, according to Library Director Pamela Thornton.

Voting runs from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at .

Bedford Central School Vote

Bedford Central's proposed budget for 2012-13 calls for spending $122,698,040, a 3.12-percent increase. The tax levy is proposed to increase by 2.69 percent, to $108,063,040. The levy stays within the tax levy cap because of exemptions such as changes to the taxable base.

On the tax rate side, the changes are: Mount Kisco with a 0.89-percent decrease (to $68.82 per $1,000 AV), Bedford with an 8.49-percent increase (to $132.02 per $1,000 AV), New Castle with a 3.66 decrease (to $65.39 per $1,000 AV), Pound Ridge (to $77.80 per $1,000 AV), and North Castle ($569.99 per $1,000 AV). The difference is because of the equalization rate formula used to apportion the levy among towns that assess properties at different percentages of market value.

The budget calls for cuts of 55.4 jobs, the majority of which will come from outsourcing in-house busing operations to a contractor.

Three school board seats are up for election, all uncontested. Running are incumbent Susan Elion Wollin for another 3-year term, incumbent Andrew Bracco for the remaining two years of an unexpired term (it was vacated by Mark Chernis last September), and newcomer Lee Goldstein for a three-year term to an open seat.

Voting runs from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., with polling places corresponding to elementary school attendence zones. For example, residents whose homes are zoned for attendence to will use that school as a polling place.