With a vote looming on May 14, Hamburg Area school directors continue to struggle with a proposed $42.51 million budget for the 2018-19 school year that includes a .25 mill property tax increase.
The proposed budget reflects a $1.3 million deficit and if approved it would mark the 10th consecutive year that property taxes have increased by .25 mills in the district.
The district has budgeted conservatively and does not expect to finish with that deficit amount, according to Business Manager Michele Zimmerman.
The 2016-17 budget was approved with a $572,000 shortfall and ended with a $1.1 million surplus.
The current budget was approved with a $1,493,000 shortfall and Zimmerman projects about a $250,000 deficit at the year’s end in late June.
To cover any deficit the district would use money from its fund balance which stands at $10.64 million.
“I don’t advocate spending fund balance every year,” Superintendent Dr. Richard Mextorf said. “We have a healthy fund balance. We’ll be close to breaking even.”
School director Todd Hummel opposed a tax increase.
“We’re forcing our residents to contribute, forcing them to tighten their belts more and more,” Hummel said. “(Raising) property taxes hurts people looking to buy a home. We’re making it less affordable to live here.”
Hummel asked if the budget can be balanced without a tax increase.
“Not without cutting,” Zimmerman said.
Mextorf said that he would keep the money in the classrooms and would recommend taking funds from future projects.
“Budgeting is all about balance, the puzzle changes,” Mextorf said. “It’s about allocating resources wisely.”
A couple of the major expenditures include special education costs which has grown from $2.2 million to $3.95 million over the last seven years and charter school tuition which has increased from $486,000 to $1,080,000.
“We have 24 special education teachers in the district, that’s a lot,” Mextorf said. “Spending money on special education is the right thing to do and it’s the law. It’s an extraordinary cost.”
When asked what happens if the budget does not get enough votes, Mextorf said, “It’s back to the drawing board, there is no Plan B.
“I don’t ask you to love it. But consider we did the best job we could to balance it. If you can support it, vote for it.”
In other news, school directors hired Glenn Miller as varsity wrestling head coach.
Miler, a sixth grade math teacher in the district, was the junior high head coach and previously was an assistant at the varsity level.
“I’ve invested a lot of time and have a lot of pride in the program and I want to see it go in the right direction,” said Miller, a 2010 Hamburg Area graduate.
In other news, school directors hired Nick Evangelista as head coach for boys’ varsity basketball.
Evangelista, a 2000 Hamburg Area graduate, has been the head coach for baseball at Hamburg Area since 2010.
The next school director’s meeting is Monday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the James A. Gilmartin Community Room.
