Today is the day that residents of Genesee County are being asked to vote for school budgets and members of the board of education.
For the boards of education, we sent candidate questions to 17 school board candidates. Only four candidates answered the questions (noted below). For more information on rules aimed at silencing school board members see our story from yesterday Five school districts in Genesee County restrict speech for board members.
Here's available information for each district in Genesee County:
Alexander: Voters are being asked to approve a $17,704,810 budget with a tax levy of 6,154,675. Besides the budget, there are four other propositions on the ballot. There is one candidate for school board, Sara Fernaays, who did not respond to questions about her positions.
Batavia: From the district website: "The Board of Education, at their meeting on April 10, adopted a 2018-2019 school budget proposal to be brought to the Batavia residents for vote next month. The proposed budget presents a spending plan of $52,189,152, an increase of 4.65% over 2017-2018, but with slightly more than $2.1 million attributable to State aid through the Smart School Bonds Act. The projected tax levy increase associated with the proposal is slightly less than 2.4%. According to New York State's formula, this year's allowable tax cap for a simple majority vote in our District is 7.17%; the projected levy is 4.77% less than that cap." The school board candidates are Patrick Burk, Zachary Korzelius, and Shawna Murphy. None of the three incumbents responded to candidate questions.
Byron-Bergen: From the Byron-Bergen Newsletter: 2018-19 Proposed Budget The $22,998,010 proposed budget projects a 1.01% increase. The budget was balanced utilizing Fund Balance, Reserves, and various reductions in spending. The tax levy is at Byron-Bergen’s “allowable” tax levy limit (cap) of 2.77%. This will enable us to go out under law with a simple majority vote. There are two open school board seats and three candidates: Amy Mathisen, who responded to candidate questions, Deb List (Did not respond) and Bill Forsyth (Did not respond).
Elba: We couldn't find the district's budget information on its website. We were provided a link this morning. Here is a statement from the district's budget newsletter: "The proposed school budget for 2018-19 is in the amount of $9,720,931, an increase of approximately $447,000 (4.82%) over last year’s budget. Most of our increase will be reimbursed through an increase in State Aid and a local levy increase of $59,244 (2% over last year’s levy). " There is one candidate for school board, Candy Bezon, who declined to answer candidate questions.
Le Roy: The budget is $25,199,228 which is an increase of 2.77% or $678,510. The levy will increase by 2 percent, which is below the tax cap formula, and the rate will be $24.54. School board candidates are: William MacKenzie, Lloyd Miller, and Lawrence Bonacquisti. None of the candidates responded to our candidate questions.
Oakfield-Alabama: The school budget for 2018-19 is $20,250,350. There was no further information we could find on the district's website. There are two seats open on the school board and candidates are: Tim Edgerton (Click here for response), Lorna Klotzbach (Click here for response), and Douglas Esten (Did not respond)
Pavilion: We couldn't find budget information on the district's website. School board candidates are: John Banister (Did not respond) and Christopher Jeffres (Did not respond). UPDATE: We were told this morning the total budget is $17,485,851 and the proposed tax levy is $5,517,797.
Pembroke: The general fund budget is $22,284,632, an increase of $698,530 over this year. The proposed tax levy is $8,101,329. There is one school board candidate, John Cima, who did respond to our candidate questions (Click here for response).
For times and locations of polls, check with your school district.
