Residents of the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District will go to the polls on Tuesday, May 16 to vote on a proposed $23,570,017 budget for the 2006-07 school year. This proposal represents a 5.88% increase over last year’s budget. The total estimated tax levy increase is 5.34 percent.

At this point the actual tax rates for 2006-07 can not be projected because assessment values and equalization rates will not be finalized until July 1.

Also on May 16, voters will elect three candidates to serve on the Board of Education. Incumbents Carole DeBonte and Joan Kark-Wren, as well as newcomer Rodney G. Simonds are vying for three three-year terms on the Board of Education. Voters will also decide on a resolution to re-organize the Board of Education, and vote on allocating $12,000 to the Frothingham Free Library in Fonda and $3,800 to the Fort Hunter Free Library.

Click here to read more about the re-organization proposal.

Residents will also vote on  Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m. All voters must be U.S. citizens, age 18 or older and residents of the district for at least 30 days prior to the vote. Advanced registration is NOT required.

Why are taxes going up?

The largest budget increases include:

• A $216,000 increase in health insurance costs for employees.
  An increase in health insurance costs is typical in most school districts. Providing health insurance to employees is a contractual obligation at Fonda-Fultonville.
• A 3 percent increase in salaries.
  Contractual negotiations with two bargaining units resulted in this salary increase for district employees in the 2006-07 school year.
• A $300,000 rise in natural gas prices.
  Natural gas prices are rising across the U.S., and this trend is no different in Fonda-Fultonville.

District to continue elementary reading program despite decreases in Reading First grant

For 2006-07, funding for the Reading First grant – the federal program that supplements the elementary reading program – will be reduced significantly. Over the last few years, this program has been extremely successful in the younger grades, which is why district officials do not want to see it disappear even as the funding begins to dwindle. The 2006-07 school year will be the final year the district will receive the Reading First grant.

The Reading First Program focuses on early intervention and developmental reading in grades K-3. Over the last few years our students have demonstrated unprecedented results, and the data is proof of the program’s success.

Focusing on paying for this success, district administrators and the Board of Education are committed to the continuation of this important program. Therefore, for 2006-07 the district will pay the salaries ($162,000) and benefits for three reading instruction teachers and three teacher assistants. This money will come from the general fund budget for 2006-07.

Voters to decide on re-organization of Board of Education

Also on May 16, residents will vote on a resolution that, if approved, will authorize a re-organization of the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District Board of Education.

The proposal will trim the board from nine members to seven.

The current Board of Education has considered this re-organization for the past two years, and it was by resolution that the members elected to present district voters with this proposal this year.

When coming to this decision, the Board of Education surveyed several school district in the HFM BOCES region. The results showed that many districts have a seven-member board, especially in districts the size of Fonda-Fultonville.

What happens if voters don’t approve the 2006-07 budget?

Under state law, school boards can submit a budget to voters a maximum of two times. If a budget is defeated twice, the board must adopt a contingency budget, which would put a cap on new spending. Based upon a formula, this year’s spending cap is 4 percent. (Some exclusions – including debt service payments – are allowed.)

If a contingency budget is adopted, the spending plan for Fonda-Fultonville would require a decrease of $430,032. That is because Chapter 436 of the Laws of 1997 establishes a limit on a contingent budget over the district’s budget for the prior year.

The proposed 2006-07 school budget

Required Format
School district are required to provide information in the format below.

	Budget for 2005-06	Budget proposed for 2006-07	Contingency budget for 2006-07
Total budgeted amount	$22,261,461	$23,570,017	$23,139,985
Budget increase for 2006-07 school year		$1,308,556	$878,524
Percentage increase		5.88%	3.95%
Consumer Price Index increase		4.00%	--
Resulting estimated property tax levy for 2006-07		$7,921,755	$7,736,777
Budgets are comprised of three parts
Administrative Component	$2,085,992	$2,206,616	$2,141,616
Program Component	$16,358,321	$17,145,828	$16,811,572
Capital Component	$3,817,148	$4,217,573	$4,186,797
Total	$22,261,461	$23,570,017	$23,139,985

Basic STAR Exemption Impact
Estimated Basic STAR Exemption savings based on a hypothetical home within the school district with a full value of $100,000.

	Amended Budget 2005-06	Proposed budget 2006-07
Basic STAR tax savings	$653	$687
School tax increase/decrease	$74	$116
Net Basic STAR tax savings	$632	$571

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