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Bronxville Board Sends $44.4M Budget to Voters

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – Bronxville taxpayers won't face a big jump in their school assessment if they pass the 2012-13 budget unanimously adopted Thursday night by the Bronxville Board of Education.

The final number to be put before the voters May 15 is $44,441,945.

Since the budget was first proposed Feb. 4, the total inched downward a few notches. The original $44.6 million budget dropped to $44.4 million Feb. 16, $44.3 million March 3 and $44.2 million March 15.

The final budget figure includes $40,000 that was added to the revenue side of the ledger when the district received its latest state aid figures, and a transfer of $110,000 from the fund balance that will hold down the tax increase.

The tax rate, according to a breakdown provided by Assistant Superintendent of Business Dan Carlin, would be $13.9295 per $1,000 of assessed value, meaning the owner of a home assessed at $1 million would pay $13,930 in school taxes, up $140 from this year's figure. The current rate is $13.79 per $1,000. The tax levy would be 0.98 percent, well below the state's new $2 percent levy cap.

Carlin touched off complaints from Board member Richard Rugani when he recommended spending $110,000 of the fund balance – the amount of money collected over and above what is spent each year – to reduce the tax levy. Rugani said the board only received the plan for the fund balance distribution earlier in the day, and could not make an informed decision without time to study it.

According to Carlin, the board will have to approve transfers to the specific funds in June, and adjustments could be made then.

The total fund balance is currently pegged at $9.4 million as of June 30; for 2012-13, with the proposed expenditures, it is projected to drop to $9.17 million.

Cuts from the original budget proposal came from two budget lines: $50,000 from the special education line that the district did not use last year, but had in reserve, and $100,000 that was saved because fewer students who live in the Bronxville School District are attending private schools within 15 miles of the district. The district must provide such students with transportation to and from school.

 

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