IF YOU GO …
WHO: Washington-Caldwell School District electors
WHAT: Annual meeting; resident input on final 2014-15 budget and tax levy
WHEN: 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 27
WHERE: Washington School gym, 8937 Big Bend Road, Tichigan
By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Although declining enrollment and sluggish property values have cast a dire budgetary picture in the Washington-Caldwell School District, leaders say they have taken steps to shore up a financial gap — for this school year, at least.
Superintendent Mark Pienkos in recent weeks has not minced words as he has reached to the district’s community and shared the financial challenges facing the district.
A feedback session was held in late September, and there was support from those in attendance of raising property taxes to support the programs offered at the school.
As a prelude to the Monday, Oct. 27, annual meeting — where residents will formally have a say in the budget and property tax levy — the board and administrators have assembled a tentative document that calls for a 15-percent increase in taxes.
At a special meeting Oct. 13, the board adopted a tentative budget and took further action Oct. 20 when additional pieces of the puzzle — including final state aid numbers — became known.
The (slight) good news for Washington-Caldwell is state aid came came in a bit higher than anticipated. Financial Secretary Rachel Opgenorth reported Monday the district will receive $144,025 from the state — $147 more than what had been anticipated.
During the Oct. 20 discussion of the budget, Opgenorth and Pienkos discussed the various factors that play into the budget building process, including the anticipated tax rate, which is set to be $8.76/$1,000 valuation. The figure is a 12 percent increase from the $7.80/$1,000 rate of last year.
The tax rate could vary slightly throughout the district’s boundaries. While the bulk of Washington-Caldwell’s boundaries are within the Town of Waterford, the district also falls within small slivers of the Town of Norway and Town of Vernon.
Overall, district officials anticipate the owner of a home valued at $150,000 paying $1,314 in school taxes in the upcoming bill, up $144 from $1,170 paid a year ago on a home with the same valuation.
In addition to the levy increase, district officials anticipate dipping into reserve dollars within the fund balance to shore up a deficit that came through reduced income. If the levy amount were lessened, district officials would either need to reduce programs or staffing to cut costs or take additional funds out of the reserves.
While school officials are optimistic this year’s budget will move forward, based on the resident feedback offered to date, Opgenorth sounded a warning about upcoming years, which are expected to offer similar challenges.
She pointed to this year’s enrollment figures, which include an eighth-grade class of 27 students and the expectation that five 4-year-old kindergarteners will enter full-day kindergarten in the fall. The scenario results in a deficit of 22 students.
“It’s a snow-ball effect,” she commented. “You can cut costs so many ways, but at the end of the day, we have to educate the kids.”
While residents, acting as electors, will have some control in the annual meeting, any votes taken are not binding but merely provide direction to the School Board.
Once the Oct. 27 annual meeting has wrapped, Pienkos said he anticipates holding a brief special board meeting, where board members will make a final, definitive vote on Washington-Caldwell’s 2014-15 budget and levy.
-
-
-
-
-