Published: March 31, 2009 12:16 am      

STARPOINT: Board to vote on budget with 1.38 percent tax rate increase

PENDLETON — After a lot of work and a lot of questions, the Starpoint Board of Education will vote Monday on whether to adopt the proposed budget for the 2009-10 school year.

On Monday, the district unveiled its latest version of the proposed spending plan. The $44,165,176 tentative budget is a 5.45 percent increase from the current school year budget and creates a 1.38 percent tax rate increase, raising the taxes about 30 cents on average to an estimated $21.01 per $1,000 of assessed land value. The budget would raise the tax levy, the amount of the district budget funded by residents’ taxes, to $22,225,443, about 3.51 percent higher than the current levy.

About 2.87 percent of the budget increase is the district’s additional debt service, a mandatory cost that involves

Starpoint’s capital project. The district receives a major portion of the money back in the form of state aid. The debt service is $1.2 million and without it, the budget would only increase 2.58 percent, while the tax rate would increase about 0.98 percent.

Despite the hard economic times, the tax rate increase was better than it’s been in the past, Superintendent C. Douglas Whelan said.

“That’s a lower tax rate than what we had in 2003-04,” he said. “We have to think about the education of children in this district.”

The district wants to add a custodian at $52,542, a first-grade teacher at $57,920 and increase a school nurse position from part time to full time at an additional cost of $33,534. Starpoint also wants to add a men’s volleyball program, consisting of varsity, junior varsity and modified teams, at a cost of $16,811.

If nothing changes with the proposed budget, Starpoint will add a special education 8:1:1 class for students with behavioral difficulties. The numeric formula means the class is for eight students with one teacher and one aide. Brian Farrell, Starpoint director of special programs, said although students receive excellent service from where they attend, there are two concerns that need to be addressed.

“One is the cost,” he said. “Yes, we do get some of the money back, but there is a cost for the district. No. 2, these programs are off site.”

Farrell added that students with behavioral difficulties are hard to monitor in a regular class. If the budget is approved by taxpayers, the class would start in September and be held at Fricano Primary School.

The class is now set up for five students who are receiving services from the Orleans/Niagara Board of Cooperative Educational Services. The cost to Starpoint for three of the students to attend is about $157,280, while the other two attend a 15:1 class at a cost of $105,340. The district would save about $175,308, while also receiving state aid the following school year.

Without the additions and the debt service, the proposed budget would be a 2.97 increase from the current budget and raise the tax rate about 1.72 percent.

A public hearing on the budget will be held May 5 at the district offices, 4363 Mapleton Road, Pendleton. Every public school district in New York state will vote on proposed budgets for 2009-10, as well as hold school board elections, on May 19.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.