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ROTTERDAM
Fuel costs push spending higher
Schalmont spending to rise $1.45M
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Fuel prices are driving a 3.63 percent increase in the Schalmont Central School District operating budget expected for the coming year.
    The percent change is slightly less than the increase in the current year 2007-08, when the district had a 4.5 percent jump in spending. Overall, the 2008-09 budget calls for an additional $813,074 to be collected through property taxes, up by about 2.99 percent, according to figures provided by the district.
    “We feel it’s a fiscally responsible budget, but at the same time, it is meeting our students’ educational needs,” Superintendent Valerie Kelsey said Thursday.
    The proposed budget would increase district spending by $1.45 million over the $40.1 million this year.
    Kelsey said a drastic increase in the cost of diesel fuel is reflected in the proposed budget. She said district transportation costs have risen, along with an increase in the cost of supplies such as food an paper.
    The district also witnessed a flattening in its proposed state aid increase from 4 percent in 2007-08 to 2.19 percent in 2008-2009. The district is slated to receive about $11.8 million in aid in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
    Kelsey said the district will cut two teaching positions next year and shed the equivalent of another. She cited enrollment declines at the middle and high school levels.
    Kelsey said the district was able to save money by its participation in the Capital Region BOCES.
    The district also saved by switching the administration and support staff unions from the selffunded Schalmont health insurance plan to a private provider.
    Kelsey said it’s too soon to determine how the proposed budget increase would affect local property taxes in Rotterdam, the largest of the five municipalities within the district. In the current year in Rotterdam, residential property owners paid $17.22 per $1,000 of assessed value, while commercial businesses paid $20.63 per $1,000. District Business Administrator Mark Kellett said a residents with a $200,000 home and a basic STAR exemption paid $2,726 in school taxes to the district.
    The district will host its second community budget forum in the Schalmont Middle School at 7 p.m., April 7. Following the forum, the district’s Board of Education will vote on adopting the budget.
    The public vote statewide is May 20.

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SCHALMONT

Proposed 2008-09 budget: $41.55 million
Change from 2007-08: 3.6 percent increase
Highlights: The district is expanding some of its existing programs and making security upgrades at the elementary and high school. The equivalent of two full-time and a few part-time positions will also be lost.
Tax impact: Up 3 percent. The district has homestead and non homestead tax rates that will be set in August. Right now with the homestead rebate, the tax rate is $17.22 per $1,000 of assessed valuation while for those without the homestead rebate, the tax rate is $20.58 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Proposition: To buy three large buses and two smaller ones for $381,000. The district will cover $163,865 and the state will pay the remainder over five years
School board seats: Carl Strang and Kevin Thompson unopposed for 3-year seats.
Voting: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. inside the foyer of the new gym at Schalmont High School

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Vote no on Schalmont’s proposed increase
Kudos to J.F. Kulkus for trying to inform the voters about school budgets [May 16 Gazette]. I live in the Schalmont district.

The schools got a big boost last year due to the re-evaluation of property, yet they are still asking for an increase. This is sheer madness — the idea that we cannot go one year with a zero percent increase in school taxes. I would like to see more people go out and vote no on May 20, no matter where you live.

So many people I know are unhappy with taxes but too lazy to get out and vote. Some people are just uninformed about the waste in schools. Some just don’t care. I wish I had enough money not to care and to just throw good money after bad.

Theresa George

Rotterdam

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Schalmont: Budget approved; Transportation proposition approved; Carl Strang and Kevin Thompson elected to school board.