Tioga Central Superintendent Scot Taylor. (File Photo)
By a unanimous vote, the Tioga Central School District Board of Education adopted a new 2015-16 budget on Thursday with another hefty tax increase. The district is this time asking for voters to approve a 17.26 percent tax increase during a June 16 budget revote. The district’s original proposal to raise taxes by 30 percent failed to get the necessary 60 percent support from voters to pass on May 19.
The May 28, 2015 adoption of the new budget by the Board of Education came with few details. District resident Cherie Barnes asked the board about further details. District Superintendent Scot Taylor said that a budget book would be available Tuesday since the budget was only adopted that evening. Board Member Jason Bellis gave Barnes a copy of his booklet from the previous, failed budget.
Barnes asked if the district had done financial planning for future years. Board President Ken Cook said the district had looked out “five or six years” during the planning of the failed budget, and had again forecast several years ahead using the newly adopted budget.
“We certainly do,” Cook said, “we’ve looked at a five year cash flow and reserve use, lots of time has been spent on it.”
Barnes asked why the Tioga Central budget increase was so large, when other districts had kept their increases to the New York Tax Cap of 2 percent. Cook responded that the district had kept its tax increase to 2 percent for the past three years, and had been hoping that state aid had recovered to the levels it had been at previously. The lack of state aid is a primary reason for the steep hikes cited by the district.
Taylor pointed out that other districts have tax rates much larger than Tioga Central. Another rural, high needs district in the county has a tax rate of $20 per $1,000 of assessed value, Taylor said, while Tioga Central’s rate is currently less than $10 per $1,000. But that would change if the newly adopted budget were approved by 60 percent of the voters on June 16.
The new budget raises the tax per thousand of assessed value by $1.61, adding to the current $9.30 for a total of $10.91 per $1,000 of assessed value. School taxes on a house valued at $50,000 in the Tioga Central School District would go up by $80.30 a year, not taking into consideration the STAR tax relief program, Taylor said.
While Barnes said that even a lesser 17.26 percent increase was something she could not support, another taxpayer in the district said he would support it.
Joe Lynch of Barton said he appreciated the efforts of the school board for the community and its kids. Lynch said he would support the budget, even though he has no kids in school now after his son graduated last year.
“I hope the community supports the school board and the budget for the children’s sake,” Lynch said. “Whether it is swimming or basketball or English, they deserve a good education,” he added.
Board Member Shane Mills thanked taxpayers for taking part in the momentous decisions facing the district. Mills said the district was in new territory, and that the process had not been easy for them. Whether taxpayers supported or were against the budget, Mills said he was grateful for their participation in the process. He added that the June 16 vote would be the first step in the healing process for the district.
There was no talk of the draconian consequences of the vote failing again, and the district having to go to a contingency budget with no tax increase and several budget cuts. Taylor alluded to several budget cuts that had been made in the new budget, including to his own salary. Other cuts were made to administrative salary, by staff restructuring, and through the elimination of two extracurricular programs, which had low participation rates.
Meanwhile, several core programs were retained in the budget. The district will establish an 8-1-1 special education program, which Taylor said would be cheaper for the district than sending the kids to BOCES. The designation 8-1-1 refers to eight students, one teacher, and one aide. The librarian will go to full time as well, which Taylor said was critical for English teachers and student literacy, especially in the elementary school.
A STEM program will also be established, with no further staffing requirements but some money for materials required. Taylor said the STEM program is critical for students, especially those choosing to go on to college in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
There would have been more cuts without an offer by a local citizen, whom Taylor said wishes to remain anonymous for now. The donation of $294,479 will allow the district to maintain co-curricular and extra curricular programs, according to Taylor. The donation would be made each year for three years, and is contingent on the budget passing on June 16.
Taylor said this year’s budget process has been long, tough and emotional. He reiterated what Mills said, thanking the community for their participation regardless of their budget vote, and for their participation in the budget process.
“It’s good to get feedback from the community,” Taylor said, “moving forward we’ll have a better picture on where the community stands.”
