City school taxes are expected to go up again this year.
School officials and board members seemed relieved that the increase was brought down from over 3 percent to a 1 percent increase, but it still potentially means an extra $22 a year in property taxes on a home assessed at $125,000.
The Batavia school board approved the proposed 2023-24 budget of $58.9 million with a tax levy of $19,888,991 during its meeting earlier this week. That levy is below the tax cap limit, and the budget is $4.1 million more than the 2022-23 budget, or 7.6 percent.
The Batavian asked Superintendent Jason Smith why the district has an increase at all, given nearly $4 million of additional revenues and recouping state Foundation aid after its absence the last couple of years.
“For context, our allowable tax cap is 8.42 percent, and the preliminary budget presented last week had just over a 3 percent levy increase. Based on board feedback, the proposed levy has now been reduced to just over 1 percent. There were a few factors driving this decision. First, this budget calls for the addition of three school buses from our transportation contractor, which, if drivers can be hired, will reduce the time for our students (to be) on buses, which has been a source of community and family concerns and one which we have listened to,” Smith said. “Second, our transportation contract will not be renewed at the end of next year, which means the entire contract is up for renewal and is subject to price increases. We also fully expect the state mandate of electric buses and the related costs with this requirement to be passed down to districts by our future transportation contractor, further increasing costs. The district needs to plan carefully both now and for the future for these increased costs.”
“Additionally, we expect our tax cap for the 2024-25 budget to be negative, which would yield a tax decrease and reduced revenue, and the board and I are not interested in asking our voters to override the tax cap, which would require a 60 percent approval of voters, as opposed to a simple majority,” he said. “Seeking a just over 1 percent levy increase for the 23-24 budget will provide revenue for both the current and future needs of the district.
During this week’s board meeting, Rozanski brought up the option of leaving one or more of the six buses in the budget or removing them. He cut out three to show the cost savings and explained their need to the district. They would be helpful to alleviate some overcrowding on the current buses and, as Smith said, reduce the amount of time that students are on buses to and from school.
Board member Jennifer Lendvay questioned the validity of buying the buses if there aren’t drivers available for them, as Rozanski also indicated. As with employee shortages elsewhere, drivers have been difficult to find as well, he said. There were six buses in the initial budget, and three have been cut out for a reduction of $281,268.
The group ended up voting to accept the budget, which will be presented during a public hearing at 6 p.m. May 8 in the Superintendent’s Conference Room at BHS, 260 State St., Batavia. District residents will then be able to vote on the budget, three propositions, and two board candidate seats up for election from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 16 at your designated polling site.
A 1 percent tax levy increase was made by cutting $427,746 from the preliminary levy of $20,316,737 through attrition of not replacing four retirements (saving $209,478) and the reduction of three bus purchases, for a total levy of $19,888,991.
Personnel expenses are to increase by $736,084 from last year to $20,845,750, and teacher support is to increase by $587,644 to $7,049,255. According to 2022 data, the average teacher salary is $61,263, plus benefits.
Total contractual costs (general support and teaching, operations/maintenance, interscholastic athletic) are slated to increase by $1 million, for a total of 5,481,864; debt service payments are going up by $781,547; and Rozanski also put 8 percent inflationary costs on the hook for overall increases. Total salaries for the district for 2023-24 are $27,894,975.
“So these 8 percent numbers are big numbers, but they’ve been pretty consistent,” he said. “We also had three to six STA extra buses in the first draft of the budget, to go back to pre-COVID levels where Jackson buses were just servicing Jackson students, and John Kennedy buses, John Kennedy students, all contingent upon their drivers being available. We’re still in trouble, we still struggle to find drivers, not only with STA but our other contractors. So this is an area that was looked at as a possible reduction. So we took out three buses and what's presented tonight, buses and monitors, each cost about $70-some thousand.”
The third proposition of the May vote is to establish a capital improvement reserve fund for the purpose of financing in whole or in part the “acquisition, construction, reconstruction, expansion, renovation, alteration, and improvement of building, facilities, sites and real property” by the district for not greater than $10 million.
“This budget also addresses smart and conservative financial planning for future capital construction and maintenance needs for all of our buildings, Smith said. “Finally, and most importantly, this budget preserves our academic and extra-curricular programs.”
File photo of Student Transportation of America, the bus company serving Batavia City School District, by Howard Owens.
