Details on two additional propositions on the ballot regarind capital
By Sara-Megan Walsh
Huntington school district taxpayers will be asked to vote three times when they head to the polls May 15.
Huntington’s board of education has put forth a proposed $129,812,991 budget for the 2018-19 school year. The board members also elected to put two additional measures asking for the release of reserve funds to tackle various capital projects and repairs needed in the district’s eight buildings.
“I do believe the budget we are discussing this evening does not short change any educational programs,” Superintendent James Polansky said in an April budget presentation. “We’ve been very responsible in terms of how we put our budget together and taking into account the taxpayer burden the way we do.”
“We’ve been very responsible in terms of how we put our budget together and taking into account the taxpayer burden the way we do.”
– James Polansky
Polansky said the district has set aside funds to continue to increase and expand its education programs. Huntington High School will have a computer science course added as well as a virtual enterprise course, a new business elective which simulates an entrepreneurial business for students to run.
The proposed budget also includes funds to redesign the math curriculum for the mid-level grades and augmenting the elementary school and social studies programs.
If approved, the adopted 2018-19 spending plan would represent a budget-to-budget increase of 2.85 percent, or approximately $3.6 million more than the current year. The primary costs driving up the budget
include the district’s approximately $800,000 increase in contributions to the state’s Teachers’ Retirement System, health care insurance for faculty and staff and rising transportation costs.
If approved by voters, the average Huntington homeowner will see their annual school taxes increase by an estimated $213.69, or approximately $17.81 a month. This is based on the average home having an assessed value of $3,430, in which an assessed value is a dollar value placed on the property by the Town of Huntington solely for the purposes of calculating taxes based on comparable home sales and other factors.
Proposition 2
Proposition 2 will ask Huntington residents to approve the release of about $7 million from the district’s capital reserves fund for critical infrastructure repairs. The list of projects includes the replacement of the roofs at three elementary schools, Flower Hill, Jefferson and Southdown at $1.5 million each; tile replacement in 17 bathrooms at Jefferson and Nathaniel Woodhull School; security vestibules at Flower Hill and Washington primary schools; and replacing two of Woodhull’s boilers. If approved by voters, Proposition 2 will have no impact on the tax levy or tax rate.
Proposition 3
Under Proposition 3, the district seeks to create a new building improvement fund. The superintendent said making a new fund is necessary in order to transfer money from the district’s existing repair reserve, which can primarily be used in emergencies, to a newly named capital reserve that will be used for turf field replacement. If Proposition 3 is approved, it will also have no impact on the tax levy or tax rate.
Go vote
The polls will be open May 15 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Huntington High School.
