School taxes are anywhere from 60 to 70% of your entire property tax obligation. To make that statement even clearer, if your total property tax obligation was $100, the school district would claim 60 to 70 dollars of it. In that light, it's important to start focusing on some matters that are occurring right now, approximately two months before the school budget/BOE vote. I have compiled some key points below in an easy-to-read format.
· Projected tax cap: 1.66%
· Projected Budget: $80.3 million
Find out what's happening in Glen Covewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
· Projected Revenues: $78.8 million
· State aid will account for about $8.3 million of projected revenues. This figure may be bumped up slightly.
Find out what's happening in Glen Covewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
· Projected Budget Gap: $1.5 million
· Approximately $60 million of the budget is dedicated to salaries, insurance and retirement.
· Various cost cutting proposals have been discussed.
· A veteran's tax exemption is being discussed.
· The school district is allowed to exceed the tax cap for specific expenditures as outlined in the 2011 law.
· If a school budget is voted down twice, taxes are held at the same level as the prior year. In other words, a 0% increase.
· Your school tax bill comes every August.
· The School Budget/BOE vote is Tuesday, May 20, 2014
With regard to a household's personal finances, this is arguably the most important of all votes that one can cast. No matter which way you feel about school expenses, it is imperative that you actually vote. When ONLY 8 to 15% of eligible voters, in any given year, get to decide who represents the community on the school board, and how much the budget and taxes will be, it is a TRAVESTY.
