Windfall Budget Is Proposed
The East Hampton School Board finished shaping its proposed 2015-16 budget on Tuesday, making room for intramural sports, a competitive dance team, more art supplies for the elementary school, and another section of a popular middle school science elective.
The board will vote on the $66.1 million budget on Wednesday. It will be put up for public vote on May 19.
The figure represents a 1.55-percent increase in spending over last year’s budget. If approved, it would carry a 1.62-percent increase in the tax levy, which is less than what East Hampton would have been allowed under New York’s tax cap law. The tax rate for homeowners would increase by 1.35 percent, rising to $51.71 per $100 of assessed value.
The aforementioned additions come courtesy of New York State lawmakers, who finalized their own budget in Albany two weeks ago. East Hampton will receive $185,758 more from the state than school officials initially projected. The district will use $100,000 of that money to lower the tax levy increase it had initially proposed.
According to Richard Burns, the superintendent, the district made that move “as a thank-you to the taxpayers for passing last year’s budget, when we went over the cap.”
“We’re going to spend as much money as we need to ensure that our kids are getting a great education in this district, but we’re not going to spend the money just because we can spend it,” said Jackie Lowey, a school board member, during Tuesday’s meeting.
When it came to finalizing the proposed budget, the school board agreed to include about $3,300 for more supplies in the elementary school art program, $4,000 to establish a middle school intramural sports program, about $15,300 for a competitive dance team, and $3,800 for a new French horn in the high school music program. The board also agreed to fund a second section of Science Olympiad, which is taught as an elective class at East Hampton Middle School, at a cost of $30,000.
Other additions include $27,000 for a new utility vehicle for the buildings, grounds, and custodial department, and $18,000 for a school bus GPS system.
The additions did come at the expense of a couple of items that were axed from the budget, including the eighth-grade trip to the Museum of Natural History and an annual health fair.