District residents will head to
the polls on May 20 to vote on a
proposed $41,898,477 budget.
The RCS Board of Education
approved a final version of the
budget proposal during a meeting
Monday. Residents can attend a
public hearing on the budget
proposal on May 12 at 7p.m. in
the high school library media
center.
The budget would increase
spending by 2.17 percent and the
tax levy by 2.64 percent. Both
represent the lowest increases
in the last five years.
Additionally, the budget
proposal is significantly at
least $320,000 less than could
result from a contingency
budget. The budget was crafted
after months of work by the
Board of Education,
administration and Budget
Advisory Committee, which
consisted of residents, faculty
and staff.
The budget would address the
needs of students through
several measures, while also
addressing the needs of property
taxpayers by proposing the
lowest tax levy increase in
years, said Superintendent Vicki
Wright.
More than $800,000 in expenses
in the current years budget
have been cut from the proposed
spending plan, including
$101,000 in natural gas and
electricity costs as a result of
energy conservation initiatives.
However, the budget also
reflects the reality of the
skyrocketing costs of fuel and
other necessities.
The proposed 2008-09 school year
budget includes a $309,000
increase up to $589,750 in
funding for fuel to keep the
fleet of 55 buses on its daily
appointed rounds. The latest
increase is more than the total
fuel budget for the 2003-04
school year when RCS spent
$110,000.
Health insurance is another
budget impactor, with the
district budgeting for a
$111,210 increase in health
insurance costs next year, up to
$3.37 million, said Interim
Business Administrator Dennis
Geisler.
Passage of the budget on May 20
would also fund:
·
The purchase of new computers to
replace outdated computers, as
well as adaptive technology to
further the education provided
to RCS disabled students.
·
Expansion of Project Lead the
Way into eighth grade.
·
Increased textbook purchases to
address new state mandates in
math and the needs of elementary
students.
The budget also proposes $20,000
to purchase a state
audit-mandated inventory control
system and $73,600 to replace
the radio communication system
for the district fleet of buses.
The current system will no
longer function this summer once
BOCES ends its service, as it is
scheduled to do.
Second vote planned in RCS this
spring
District residents will head to
the polls twice this spring.
The Board of Education on Monday
voted to set June 17 as the date
for residents to vote on a
$403,027 proposition that would
authorize the purchase of four
new buses.
The buses to replace four older,
less fuel efficient buses that
are 12 and 13 years old, said
Transportation Director Janice
Prior.
The purchase continues the
districts effort to maintain
not only a safe fleet, but
replace the buses on a routine
basis as opposed to making a
more costly one-time purchase
that could result in a spike in
the districts tax levy.
The bus
proposition typically appears on
the same ballot as the budget.
However as a result of a delay
in securing cost estimates from
the manufacturers, RCS could not
meet the legal 45-day
requirement for advertising the
proposition prior to the May 20
vote.
