Hilton school board holds tax increase to less than two percent

Hilton school board holds tax increase
to less than two percent

"It's a whole new world of (NYS Department of Education) aid to school systems under the governor (Eliot Spitzer)," Hilton's Superintendent of Business Steve Ayers said. "There are significant increases in resources and accountability under the new formulas."

Hilton was named a "Contract for Excellence" district and with that comes required investments in new initiatives and increased accountability. Ayers said that is not a bad thing and will enhance the students' learning experience once those initiatives are put in place. "We are one of the few districts to have achieved the designation," he said.

Some of the initiatives that will be implemented in the 2007-08 budget include: reduction in elementary class sizes; five new teaching positions will be created as a result of the initiative; programs to target the at-risk population will be implemented at the high school level; there will be summer programs for eighth graders; a reduction of the "team sizes" in the middle school; additional resources will be allocated for coaches/mentors for teachers; more fund will be put into technology; preventive maintenance on the HVAC will be performed, to name a few components of the plan.

Bottom line figures on the budget bring with it a 1.72 percent projected increase in taxes that equates to about 40 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. "With STAR rebates, the annual increase should be less than $35 for a taxpayer with a home valued at $100,000," he said.

The tax rates in the towns of Clarkson, Greece and Parma are currently $22.97 per $1,000. Under the proposed budget they will be $23.36. In the town of Hamlin the tax rate is $46.87 and will be $47.68 under the new budget figures - an increase of 93 cents per $1,000.

The district's total budget comes in at about $63.9 million, a 6.12 percent increase over the current $60.3 million.

"I think the board was able to come up with a budget that strikes a balance with respect to the tax rates and to fund initiatives for the students," Ayers said.

The public vote on the proposed budget will be on May 15. Also on the ballot will be school board seats and a referendum to approve the creation of a capital reserve fund and to transfer $300,000 into that fund as an opening balance. "We are looking to accumulate funds as a way of saving for other capital improvement projects that we may be faced with in the future."

The budget was voted on by the board on April 3 and passed by a five to one margin.