fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Saugerties voters approve school budget by 2-1 margin

by Crispin Kott
June 19, 2020
in Education
0
Saugerties schools increase security

Saugerties High School (photo by Rick Holland)

Voters in the Saugerties Central School District approved by a margin of 2,652-1,144 a $66,471,574 budget for the 2020-21 school year. Voting, conducted by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saw a significant increase in participation compared to last year, when the 2019-20 budget passed by a margin of 670-345. The 2020-21 budget earned 70 percent approval from voters, compared to 66 percent approval for the 2019-20 spending plan.

The budget represents an increase of $1,172,152, or 1.80 percent over the 2019-20 spending plan, and includes a local tax levy increase of 2.18 percent, or $867,742, bringing that total to $40,631,060. The proposed tax levy increase is at the maximum allowable under the state mandated cap for the district. 

The approved spending plan overcame a deficit of $1,785,303 by tapping into a fund balance ($1,440,303), ERS reserve ($330,000) and unemployment reserve ($15,000). The deficit is partly due to a projected reduction in state aid of $408,893, or 1.77 percent. The Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office has indicated that further reductions during the school year are also possible depending upon the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a look back scheduled for Tuesday, June 30. 

“We’re concerned that he’s going to cut funding for school districts,” said School Board President Robert Thomann after a meeting to accept the polling figures on Thursday, June 18. “The majority of district budgets (across New York) passed, so is he going to say, ‘Well, you have money now, so we can take from state aid’”?  

Also on the ballot were three uncontested seats on the Board of Education, with incumbents Susan Gage earning 2,920 votes and Krista Barringer 2,522 votes. Newcomer Timothy Wells will join the School Board having picked up 2,493 votes to fill a seat left open when Damion Ferraro decided not to seek reelection. 

Thomann said that while he was pleased that the mail-in ballots led to greater turnout than in traditional polling years, the expense would make it difficult to change to the practice full time after the pandemic is over. 

“We discovered that the mail-in ballots are better way to do things, although they’re very expensive for the district,” Thomann said. “I had a lot of people in the community speak to me before the ballot came out, and they were very anxious to get the ballots because they were concerned about their kids’ education and said they were going to both positively on the budget. You don’t have to go to public places, and with the pandemic and everything else that’s going on people worried about ensuring that their kids’ education was in place.”

The next meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, July 14.

Tags: 2020 school budget vote
Thank you for reading Hudson Valley One. We rely on your support to continue providing local, substantive news. Please check out our subscription options to keep local journalism alive in the Hudson Valley.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Kingston voters approve school budget with 72 percent of the vote

Next Post

Drive-in opera planned for August

Crispin Kott

Crispin Kott was born in Chicago, raised in New York and has called everywhere from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Atlanta home. A music historian and failed drummer, he’s written for numerous print and online publications and has shared with his son Ian and daughter Marguerite a love of reading, writing and record collecting.

 Crispin Kott is the co-author of the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City (Globe Pequot Press, June 2018), the Little Book of Rock and Roll Wisdom (Lyons Press, October 2018), and the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area (Globe Pequot Press, May 2021).

Related Posts

Trump’s taking back trans kids’ protections won’t change local approach
Education

No contractors available for Saugerties schools work

June 30, 2022
Saugerties High School seniors receive biliteracy awarded
Education

Saugerties High School seniors receive biliteracy awarded

June 29, 2022
96 seniors graduate from Onteora
Education

96 seniors graduate from Onteora

June 29, 2022
New Paltz High graduates its class of 2022
Education

New Paltz High graduates its class of 2022

June 29, 2022
Kingston schools plan ahead for graduation and other matters
Education

KHS year in review

June 29, 2022
Saugerties High School’s graduation ceremony
Education

Saugerties High School’s graduation ceremony

June 29, 2022
Next Post

Drive-in opera planned for August

Trending News

  • Shrestha upsets Cahill while Hochul, Delgado prevail in Dem primaries 1.8k views
  • AutoCamp Catskills brings fleet of Airstreams to former Saugerties KOA 1.8k views
  • Planned auto repair shop in Saugerties concerns neighbors 1.3k views
  • No contractors available for Saugerties schools work 523 views
  • Shaggy lawns may mean fines in Saugerties 514 views







Latest HV1 Podcast

Weather

Kingston
◉
75°
Clear
5:24am8:35pm EDT
Feels like: 75°F
Wind: 2mph SW
Humidity: 62%
Pressure: 30.09"Hg
UV index: 0
FriSatSun
93/70°F
88/61°F
86/57°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Ulster County COVID-19 Active Cases

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing