Elwood Board of Education to Discuss Budget Options Thursday

The Elwood Union Free School District’s Board of Education meeting on Thursday night will discuss the District's next course of action after the proposed budget was defeated by voters at Tuesday’s election.

The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Elwood Middle School auditorium. The Board will discuss either:

• Holding a revote of the original budget.
• Proposing a reduced budget that exceeds the tax cap.
• Proposing a reduced budget within tax cap limitations, which equates to a negative 0.212 percent budget to budget.
• Moving to austerity with a 0.00 percent tax levy and a negative 0.69 percent budget to budget.

The proposed $59,891,409 million budget was defeated by a margin of 1,132 yes votes to 805 no votes. The tax levy, which exceeded the state's tax cap, meant voters had to approve the budget by 60 percent. The budget was short of passing by just 31 votes. The proposed budget was a 0.68 percent increase in spending over the current year and it came with a 1.88 percent tax levy increase.

If the Board decides that the administration should make changes to the proposed budget, the changes would be presented and voted upon by the Board at a special meeting that is tentatively scheduled for Monday, May 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the middle school cafeteria.

If the same budget is proposed, the vote will take place on Tuesday, June 21 at the middle school from 2-10 p.m. If the budget fails for a second time, the District would have to go with the austerity budget option.

EUFSD was reportedly labeled in “moderate fiscal stress” identified by the New York State Comptroller's office.

Andrew L. Kaplan, Board of Education President, said in a letter to Elwood residents that the “administration and community have worked diligently to propose a budget that would begin the pathway to end deficit spending and restore its reserve funds.”

“Until our State legislators create an aid formula that rewards districts such as Elwood for complying with the Governor's wish to act efficiently and without bloated reserves, Elwood will continue to feel the pressure of fiscal challenges,” Kaplan said.

Visit the District’s website for updates on scheduled meetings and budget information.

Read Kaplan’s full letter here: