Published: May 20, 2008 11:51 pm      

SCHOOL ELECTIONS: All school budgets pass, incumbents re-elected

All three incumbent school board members may have been re-elected in the Barker and Newfane School Districts Tuesday night, but two new members also won seats, with one even getting the top vote total in Newfane. The budgets of all six school districts also passed with flying colors.

In Newfane incumbents Cynthia Ames and Carl Stieffenhofer were elected to a three-year and one-year term, respectively, but it was newcomer Patrick Kilcullen who topped everyone with 874 votes to win the other three-year term. Ames finished with 849 votes, Stieffenhofer with 679 votes and resident Brian Hellner with 611 votes.

Residents also approved the $31,949,691 budget for Newfane by a 782-441 margin. The budget is a spending increase of 3.58 percent. The tax levy, the total amount of taxes needed to fund the district, will increase 2.44 percent. The levy, the lowest increase Newfane has had in 11 years, will increase the tax rate by 0.51 percent. That translates to about a 14-cent increase per $1,000 of assessed land value, bringing the tax rate to an estimated $27.08 per $1,000.

“I’m elated it passed by an almost 2 to 1 margin,” Superintendent Gary Pogorzelski said. “It’s a good budget and I’m very happy.”

Incumbent Louis Mead was re-elected in Barker with 250 votes and resident Frederick Bennes won the other three-year seat with 224 votes. Resident Mary Jo Clemmens-Harris finished third with 210 votes.

Barker’s $19,863,640 budget was also approved by residents with a 283-82 vote. The budget is a spending increase of 4.55 percent over the current budget, and calls for a 6 percent tax levy increase. Tax rates in the town of Somerset could rise about $1.13 per $1,000 of assessed land value, while residents in Hartland, Yates, Newfane and Ridgeway could see an increase of 91 cents per $1,000.

The district found itself with a $863,931 increase in operating costs and the AES payment in lieu of taxes agreement which took another $1.6 million from the district. Also Barker faced a drop in state aid from what the governor proposed, but still received $494,931. The district benefited from a bill state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, sponsored which got the district another $1.3 million.

Taxpayers would be chipping in with $3,571,858 in the tax levy. The district also cut back in a few areas, including cutting the third grade down to three sections instead of four. Also, the district will not be replacing a teacher on special assignment position, which was a savings of about $100,000. Some students enrolled in programs at Orleans/Niagara Board of Cooperative Educational Services would be brought back to the district for additional savings.

Residents also passed a second proposition, 276-67, a proposed capital project of about $1. 5 million and it comes at no additional cost to the taxpayer. The project will use state EXCEL and building aid to fund it. Improvements would be made to ventilation, heating and cooling, the parking lot and the roof. Barker would receive about 76 cents for every dollar it spends.

“We are pleased and appreciative for the continued support by our district residents,” said Barker Superintendent Roger Klatt.

Lockport City School District’s budget was passed by a 791-354 vote. It features an estimated 6 cent increase per $1,000 of assessed land value on the property tax rate in the district, if assessments stay the same.

The $73,365,821 budget would require $30,184,370 from the tax levy, an increase of 0.28 percent. The tax levy is the total amount of money from property taxes needed to fund a school district. The budget itself is an increase of 4.65 percent from the current school year’s budget.

Incumbent school board members Thomas Fiegl, Margaret Lupo and David Nemi will retain their seats and serve three-year terms. Nemi led the way with 998 votes, followed by Fiegl at 971 votes and Lupo at 945.

Royalton-Hartland School District residents approved the $23.4 million budget with a 417-146 decision. Spending would see an increase of 1.21 percent and calls for an estimated 3.9 percent tax levy increase. The tax rate would go up anywhere from 81 cents to 96 cents per $1,000 of assessed land value, depending on where a resident lives.

Some of the biggest increases in the budget were utility costs, transportation fuel costs and in general support for auditing. Superintendent Paul Bona said he was pleased to see the support and confidence residents had in the school district’s efforts to minimize taxes and keep a strong educational program, although voter turnout was less than normal.

“It was lighter, but we are satisfied with the results and can only hope the people who didn’t get out to vote were supportive of the district,” he said.

Residents Jeffrey Waters and Keith Bond were elected to the Roy-Hart board with 409 and 387 votes. Incumbent Mary Smith was re-elected with 116 write-in votes. Smith decided not to run originally but changed her mind and began a write-in campaign.

Residents gave Starpoint’s budget the nod with a 533-368 decision. The school board’s spending plan calls for a 3.7 percent increase in the tax levy. Currently, the tax rate is $20.59 per $1,000 of assessed property value, and if the assessments stay the same, the rate would increase to somewhere between $20.88 and $20.98 per $1,000, an increase of about 1.2 percent.

The total budget is $41,883,820, and reflects a 3.86 percent increase in expenditures from the current school budget. The reasons were increases in the costs of utilities and fuel, and a 264 percent increase in workers compensation, which rose from $65,000 to $225,000.

Also in another non-competitive school board election after a candidate dropped out, residents Joseph Miller, Lisa Taylor and Annmarie Reeb were elected to three-year terms. Miller finished with 683 votes, Taylor with 670 and Reeb with 492 votes.

Wilson residents approved the $23,254,894 budget by a 319-148 vote count. The budget is an increase of about 3.53 percent from the current school year. The tax levy would increase about 2.63 percent and if towns in the Wilson district are assessed at full value, the tax rate would increase from $23.11 to $23.32 per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of 0.9 percent. Wilson Superintendent Michael Wendt was glad to see the budget pass and thanked everyone who had a hand in bringing it together.

“I’m happy it passed, and I’m appreciative of all the work the board and administration put into it,” Wendt said.

Incumbents Donald DeLisi, Jack Clement and George Waters were all re-elected to the Wilson school board. Clement led with 400 votes, Waters with 361 votes and DeLisi with 350.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick

at 439-9222, ext. 6241.