Final Budget Approved

At Tuesday's meeting, the Board of Education approved the budget that we will vote for on May 18. The budget amount totals $26,614,687, a .72% decrease from last year. Due to decreased state aid (the amount of which is still in flux), the tax levy will increase 2.54%. If state aid comes in better than estimated, the tax levy could possibly decrease, but if state aid is less than expected, the tax levy might increase and/or additional budget cuts would have to be made. Regardless of the breakdown between state aid and tax levy, the total spending cannot be more than is approved by the voters in May, assuming the budget is passed then. The Superintendent is confident that the budget projections are conservative and are based on estimates of state aid at the lower end of likely possibilities.

Included as part of the budget are funds to replace school buses which are being used more heavily than previously due to the one-bell system. In the past, school buses have been voted upon separately and the expense would have been in addition to the budget. If they were separate this year as in the past, the budget would actually be less than indicated above.

Additionally, the budget has been prepared without using any federal stimulus money, which will no longer be available. A number of school districts have used their stimulus funds to pay normal operating expenses, and when this money ends, they will have a big budget gap to fill. Chatham's stimulus money has been used for capital projects and has not been included in the operating budget, so when it ends, it will have no impact on our budget.

I support the budget proposal and recommend voting to approve it on May 18.

The budget calendar is available at http://www.chathamcentralschools.com/budget/Budget%20Calendar%202010-11.pdf.