By Nathan Mayberg
MONTICELLO — April 11, 2006 – The Monticello Central School District Board of Education unanimously adopted a $64,141,695 budget on Thursday evening at the Robert Kaiser Middle School Library.
The budget represents a $4,184,290 increase in spending over the previous year.
The proposed budget presented a week earlier would raise the tax levy by 9.91 percent. That budget was $310,868 more. The difference will not be enough, however, to lower the tax levy rate to less than 9 percent.
More concise figures on the budget were not available because Business Administrator Gladys Baxter again refused to release a copy of the budget.
Baxter said the budget would be released after the board approved it but only offered a one-page synopsis yesterday.
Superintendent Eileen Casey did not return a call requesting a copy of the budget.
The summaries of the budget, which were released at the last two board meetings, offered little detail on how the budget had increased by over four million dollars in one year.
One of the reasons the update budget was $310,000 less was due to the removal of $376,000 to purchase new buses. There were also spending additions. The proposal to purchase new buses could become part of a separate proposition to be voted on in May, if the board chooses to do so.
Last year, voters approved a proposition to acquire $421,875 in new buses.
Although the State Legislature approved a $1,918,316 increase in state aid, the district is still only estimating a $675,000 increase until Governor George Pataki approves the bill.
In Command
In other business, the board approved the appointment of Assistant Superintendent Patrick Michel to the position of Interim Superintendent, once Casey leaves office this summer.