ECS prepares for budget revote

By DAVID HULSE

GLEN SPEY, NY — With a second vote scheduled on the district’s proposed $12,460,853 budget next week, Eldred Central School officials aired a second public hearing on the budget before a sparsely attended June 9 meeting of the board of education.

Based on the preliminary 2005 assessment figures, the new budget would prompt a 4.52 percent increase in individual tax bills in September. Adoption of a contingency budget would prompt a 4.5 percent decrease in the new tax bills.

The budget initially lost by a 40-vote margin in May. Resident Susan Morley said residents she spoke with did not understand the board’s rejection of the 40-vote loss, when a proposition for bus purchases was accepted with only a two-vote positive margin. Board members had questioned whether the turnout for the May vote was representative of the district.

Board president Vin Zike said the legal process for a re-vote varies by state, but that board members felt that “the correct budget had been put before the people.”

Superintendent Dr. Ivan Katz also noted that annual ECS funding of $8,000 for the Sunshine Hall Library in Eldred would be part of lost expenditures in a contingency budget. Katz said that people should be aware that voting against the budget is also voting against the library.

The adoption of a contingency budget would require the district to cut $831,000 in programs and would require staff cuts. Katz said no specific list of those cuts has been decided, but “the board has seen the options.”

The budget vote will take place at MacKenzie Elementary School on June 21, between 11:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.