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Fredonia School budget draft needs some cutting

Fredonia School Business Administrator John Forbes

The preliminary draft of the Fredonia Central School District’s 2017-18 budget needs over half a million dollars gutted to bring it to the maximum allowable tax levy amount.

Business Administrator John Forbes recently presented the first budget draft to the board of education. He explained the district must reduce its proposed spending by around $650,000, though the process is still in its early stages, with state aid revenues and BOCES and benefits costs yet to be finalized.

“(To reduce that $650,000, we have to) reduce expenditures across the board, look at things you can do during negotiations for labor contracts,” Forbes noted. “Worst-case scenario, you might want to consider the 60 percent supermajority (of voters for additional tax dollars) — but we don’t have a history of that in our vote — or seek additional revenue sources.”

The budget draft stands at $32,111,891, an increase of 3.91 percent over the current school year. Much of that is for salaries and benefits, which total $21,395,000, an increase of 2.43 percent.

The district is currently in the midst of two contract negotiations with the Salaried Support Staff Association and the Fredonia Teachers Association, Forbes stated.

He added the employer contribution rate for the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System continues to decline — this time by 2 percent — thus translating into a savings for the district. Group health insurance is up nearly 11 percent due to premium increases, however.

A big-ticket item when it comes to BOCES increases is Fredonia’s share of the capital project, which is nearly $400,000. The district will have a number of options to pay for that, Forbes said.

“Right now, I picked up the full amount under the expenditure line, but there is the possibility that we could look at taking a short-term (bond anticipation) note to help us bridge our budget with that,” he remarked. “It’ll depend on where our final figures are.”

On the revenue side, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed state aid runs carry $14,185,000 for Fredonia, which translates into a 3.13 percent increase. The estimated tax levy stands at $16,388,000, or a 5 percent increase. Applied fund balance of over $1 million for the current school year is carried over to the 2017-18 budget draft.

Fredonia’s estimated tax cap — or maximum allowable tax levy increase — stands at .79 percent (or $122,000), though that figure can change with any legislative increases to state aid.

Superintendent Paul DiFonzo pointed out the district’s administration is working to figure out if additional staffing is needed.

Email: gfox@observertoday.com. Twitter: @gfoxnews

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