VTSD presents draft of newbudget
VERNON — The Vernon Township School District Board of Education approved a preliminary $67.5 million budget on Thursday, March 19.
This is a $777,000 reduction in the budget from the version presented to the board the previous week, bringing the tax levy down $597,000, or 1.48 percent to $39.9 million. The total budget has dropped $881,000 from the 2014-15 budget, which is more than a 1 percent decrease.
The local tax rate will decrease by 9/10 of a penny, which earned a snort from the audience, but it will lead to a $10 decrease per year for the average homeowner.
There are a few sacrifices there, and some board members aren't comfortable with all of them.
“I won't support a budget with 23 kids in a kindergarten class,” Board of Education President David Zweier said. “I will vote for the budget here because it is only a tentative budget.”
Board member William Higgins agreed.
“I can't support the budget either," he said. We've lost 3.9 percent of our kids last year.” He said feels there is more that can be cut.
The preliminary budget has been submitted to the county superintendent for approval, and the formal budget will be presented to the public on April 30.
The budget discussions will be ongoing until that time.
The decline in the budget follows a decline in the valuation of properties in the district. Average home value is down 11.6 percent,
Board member Ed DeYoung agreed with waiting to get a more balanced idea of where the district needs to cut.
“Are we cutting expenditures as much as some people want?" he asked. "Probably not, but you have to split the difference.”
Board member Robert Hughes also pointed out that some of the extra seen in the budget that was held over from 2014-15 is being used to supplement in 2015-16.
McGowan wasn't happy with this answer.
“We keep putting ourselves in this hole where we have to keep coming up with fund balance to use as revenue for the next year," he said.
It was pointed out that the budget was still preliminary, and more changes could be made. School Business Administrator Steve Kepnes went on to explain what projects had been included in the budget.
Glen Meadow Middle School's locker rooms will be changed because the current layout of the rooms has lockers in the middle of the room, preventing teachers from supervising all students at the same time. The lockers also are original to the building, according to Principal Pauline Anderson, so they had gotten rusty and worn. The new lockers would be located on the periphery and would have built in locks, so the district could keep the codes and have access in a security situation.
At Lounsberry Hollow, the phone system will be upgraded so it can tie into the intercom system at a price of $15,000. The school district office will be tied into the town sewer system and three sets of well pump controls will be replaced, all from the maintenance reserve in the budget.
The district also will spend $243,000 to put a rubber overlay on the roof at Lounsberry Hollow Middle School, which is the oldest roof in the district.
Kepnes also detailed the projects that had been dropped from the budget, which included installing a drop ceiling in the cafeteria at Loundsberry Hollow Middle School, the 1-1 computer initiative, repaving the board office driveway and installing a pavilion at Walnut Ridge Primary School.