Kendall school dealing with negative state aid figures

Taxpayers in the Kendall Central School district will be asked to consider a 3.4 percent budget increase when they go to the polls May 21.

A proposal adopted by the board on April 11 reflects an operating budget of $12,899,191. School Superintendent Michael O'Laughlin said the increase addresses a significant reduction in state aid and increased costs associated with health and property insurance. "We also reduced $412,944 in the areas of equipment, programs, staffing and facilities," he said. "We also refinanced existing debt so the taxpayers don't have to pick up the additional amount the state won't be paying."

The proposed budget, he said, is only one percent more than a contingent budget.

The tax bill on a home assessed at $72,000 with a $30,000 basic STAR credit would increase a projected $90.80 a year. Senior citizens with a $50,000 enhanced STAR credit would pay about $47.56 more a year, O'Laughlin said.

O'Laughlin explained that enrollment and transportation figures accounted for the decline in state aid received by the district. "We're a small, rural district with no commercial base," he said. "This budget was a jolt … every dollar that is cut in a small district unfortunately means cuts in programs."

Kendall has no extra administration, additional principals and very few support people can be cut when the budget is tight. "We have to look at cutting teaching staff and programs," he said.

O'Laughlin said the district made a commitment to the taxpayers that if the state comes through with more funds, it will be directly applied to the budget to help reduce taxes to the residents.

The Kendall district is expected to receive 1.14 percent less in state aid. The figure for 2001-2002 school year was $6,717,209 and for 2002-2003 it is anticipated to be $6,640,453.

O'Laughlin said that even though Kendall is a small, rural district, the school exceeded the New York state educational standards. In order to meet the standards the district had to have more than 90 percent of its students pass the Regents exams in the math and English in 2001 and have a dropout rate of less than 5 percent. The district met, or exceeded, all of the state standards.

The district has also been selected by Business First Magazine as one of the 50 best public school districts in Western New York, he said.

A public budget presentation is scheduled for May 14 and the budget vote is scheduled for May 21 from 6-9 p.m. at the elementary school.