BALDWINSVILLE — Officials from the Baldwinsville Central School District offered some insight into the budget process at the April 8 edition of Coffee & Conversation with the Superintendent.
Acting Superintendent Joe DeBarbieri, Assistant Superintendent for Management Services Kimberly Vile and Business Official Tiffany Turner held a Zoom meeting to discuss the budget and give an update on the transportation department.
According to Vile, New York State provided more foundation aid to BCSD than expected. The NYS Legislature passed the 2021-22 state budget April 7.
“We were anticipating flat revenues up until literally this week,” Vile said.
Looking ahead, the district will focus on fund balance management and develop a multi-year financial plan.
The Baldwinsville Board of Education approved the 2021-22 budget at the April 12 BOE meeting.
To view the budget presentation, visit go.boarddocs.com/ny/bville/Board.nsf/Public. The video of the BOE meeting will be posted on the district’s website, bville.org.
Expenditures for 2021-22 will be $114,375,039, which is an increase of 1.88% over the current school year’s budget.
The district is at the 2.06% tax cap. Homeowners whose assessment remains the same can expect a tax increase of about $48, Vile said.
Also on the ballot
In addition to the general fund budget, BCSD voters will select three BOE candidates and vote on two other propositions.
Proposition 2 would allow the district to purchase 11 student transport vehicles as part of the district’s annual bus replacement program. The total maximum cost would be $1,237,954, but state aid is estimated to cover 80% of the cost. The local share of the bus costs would be $247,591, or $49,518 over five years.
“We do have buses that are well over 10 years old. This is one of those concepts where we’re either paying to maintain buses or we’re paying to have new buses. We’re going to be looking closely at this in the coming years to determine where that sweet spot is,” Vile said.
Proposition 3 is a $3,813,200 capital project for renovations to Baker High School, Durgee Junior High School, Ray Middle School, and McNamara, Reynolds and Palmer elementary schools. The district projects a tax impact of $2.60 on a home assessed at $100,000. According to Zillow, a typical home in Baldwinsville is worth closer to $200,000, so homeowners with that assessment can expect a tax impact of $5.20.
Three BOE seats are up for election. The seats are currently held by James Goulet, Tanya Rosado-Barringer and Kim Sullivan-Dec. The terms of these three seats are July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2024. Petitions to run for BOE are due in the district office by April 19.
The public hearing for the 2021-22 budget will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 11, at Durgee Junior High School. Voters can meet the BOE candidates before the public hearing at 6:30 p.m.
Polls are open for the budget and BOE vote from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 18, at the District Operations Building (the former bus garage), located at 29 E. Oneida St. in the village of Baldwinsville.
“We happen to have plenty of space in there for social distancing,” DeBarbieri said. “It will allow us to conduct the vote in a place that has the least disruptions for our students and staff.”
To request an absentee ballot, contact Kim Vile at 315-638-6055 or [email protected].
Transportation update
In addition to discussing the budget, DeBarbieri also offered an update on the transportation department.
“We’ve been working hard since mid-March to work with our transportation staff to transition our students at least in grades K through 7 back to the five days of in-person instruction,” DeBarbieri said.
At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, guidance from the New York State Department of Health, NYS Department of Education and the Onondaga County Health Department restricted students to one rider per seat on school buses (except for students from the same household). That remains the case this spring, DeBarbieri said, with one tweak: two unrelated students can share a seat if the bus ride is 15 minutes or less.
DeBarbieri thanked Baldwinsville parents for their cooperation and flexibility.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all of our families that are choosing to drive their students to school. That has been a huge help and we know we wouldn’t be able to make this work without that help,” he said.
