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Budget vote Tuesday, May 15
Proposed school budget seeks to balance student, community needs
The City School District of Albany has proposed a $207.7 million budget
for the 2012-13 school year that carries a 1.5 percent tax-levy increase
and would eliminate nearly 75 full- and part-time jobs as the district
continues to manage tight economic times and its charge to raise
achievement for all students.
The Board of Education approved the budget proposal April 3. The plan
would increase spending by six-tenths of a percent and maintain
academic, extracurricular and social-emotional programs for all students
if voters approve it Tuesday, May 15.
"We drafted a budget that provides for all of our students with the
resources we have while also taking into account what our community can
afford in this fiscal climate,” said board President Daniel Egan.
The proposed 1.5 percent tax-levy increase is less than half of the
district’s limit (3.05 percent) under the state’s new tax-cap formula.
It follows a year in which the board froze the tax levy (zero increase
for 2011-12), a move made possible when teachers accepted a pay freeze
for the current year. That ultimately resulted in lower school taxes for
Albany homeowners in 2011.
The 2012-13 budget proposal includes $9.9 million from the
district’s fund balance and reserves.
The proposed job cuts include 38.4 regular or contractual positions and
35 daily substitutes (15 teachers and 20 hall monitors). Those cuts
would be on top of the 250 positions the district has eliminated over
the last three years in the face of declining state aid and increases in
salaries, benefits and charter-school payments.
The district’s state aid will be reduced by more than $400,000 in
2012-13 and will be nearly $10.5 million less than the district received
in 2008-09.
Taxpayers would see an estimated increase of about $29 for every
$100,000 of their home’s assessed value. With the Basic STAR exemption,
taxpayers would see an estimated increase of $16 on a home assessed at
$100,000, and with Enhanced STAR for seniors an estimated increase of $5
on a home assessed at $100,000.
Voters will have a variety of opportunities to learn more about the
proposed budget and to ask questions during community meetings in the
weeks leading up to the May 15 vote.
Click on the highlighted text for a list of
upcoming budget presentations, or
call 475-6010 to schedule a presentation for your group.
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