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2007-2008
Budget News
Gloversville residents approve revised
budget
On June
19, district residents voted 597 to 211 in favor of a
$46,857,554 revised spending plan for 2007-08 that would
not increase the local tax levy. Residents will be
returning to the polls in August to vote on a proposal
to purchase five school buses.
Board uses
bonus state aid to boost programs and reduce proposed
tax levy
On April 2, the district Board of Education adopted a
proposed $47,075,366 budget for the 2007-08 school year
that would raise local school taxes by an estimated 2
percent. School officials had projected that local
school taxes would increase 3.9 percent next year under
the preliminary budget they had been considering prior
to Monday’s board meeting, but under the now-finalized
state budget, Gloversville schools will be receiving an
additional $706,000 in state aid for next year.
Gloversville board members had planned to adopt a $46.7
million budget during Monday’s meeting, but just before
the meeting was scheduled to begin they learned the
district would be receiving this additional state aid.
During the meeting, board members agreed to use $225,000
of this additional revenue to reduce the tax burden for
local residents. They applied $100,000 to the
unappropriated fund balance and added $381,000 to the
general fund to be used for additional programming or
staffing needs.
A public hearing on Gloversville’s proposed budget is
scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 8 in the middle school
auditorium, and residents will then vote on the proposed
budget on May 15.
State budget settled just in
time for Gloversville
Superintendent Daniel Connor left his office on Friday,
March 30, thinking Gloversville schools would receive no
additional state aid under the pending state budget. He
returned on Monday to find a faxed message from Sen.
Hugh Farley letting him know Gloversville would receive
$706,000 more aid than originally projected.
“During these difficult times, we want to thank the
entire school community for their continued support,”
Supt. Connor said. “And the district would also like to
thank Sen. Farley and our assemblyman, Marc Butler, for
their extra efforts in getting us this aid.”
The additional state aid came as a surprise because
district officials had been told not to expect an
increase to come out of the budget negotiations between
Gov. Eliot Spitzer and members of the state
Legislature, who finalized the state budget by the April
1 deadline.
“The extra aid is certainly welcome and will go a long
way toward helping us maintain our high quality and
solid education programs, while also keeping the tax
increase well below the Consumer Price Index,” Supt.
Connor said.
The Consumer Price Index measures the increase in prices
in certain goods during a fixed period of time, and is
used as a tool to measure the rate of inflation. It is
also referred to as the cost of living index.
Under Gloversville’s proposed budget, all existing
educational programs now in place would be continued
next year. Key areas where spending would increase
include:
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Public and
private special education placement costs, which are
projected to increase by $690,000;
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Salaries and
benefits, projected to increase by $1.1 million; and
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Debt service
payments related to the 2004 district capital project,
which are projected to increase by $3.3 million. These
payments are reimbursed by the state and therefore
will not affect the actual tax levy.
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