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Babylon School District brings down budget increase as it heads to voters on May 20th Passage of the state budget in early April resulted in $7.3 million in state aid to the Babylon School District for the 2008 - 2009 school year. This allocation coupled with the school district's ability to further reduce their spending plan from the one proposed in late March, means a slight dip in the proposed tax rate for Babylon Village taxpayers . The district was initially proposing a tax rate increase of 5.91 percent. That is now lowered to 4.95 percent. The current tax rate per $100 of assessed valuation is $171.654. The new tax rate will increase to $180.19 per $100 of assessed valuation. That is an increase of $8.50 per $100. A home assessed at $4,600, for example, would pay $391.00 more per year in taxes or a total of $8,288 a year. "We were able to reduce the budget by approximately another $43,000. We asked our principals to take another look at their needs, because we wanted to get the tax rate as low as possible," said Peter Daly PhD, assistant superintendent for business. Daly said the reductions come from a variety of areas and overall will result in minimal impact. Staffing and class sizes remain the same. The final increase in spending over last year's budget is 4.81 percent, as compared to an increase of 4.92 percent that was originally presented in March. "We still don't know what the teachers' contract will be," said village taxpayer Frank Curtin. "The meat of the whole [budget] is teacher salaries. If the contract is settled after May 20, where will the money come from?" According to Superintendent Ellen Best-Laimit PhD, teachers recently ratified a contract, and it now goes to the school board for final review. "The amount of money needed for salary increases is in the budget," she said. In total, public schools across Long Island will see an increase in state aid next year of $236 million. This is an increase of 9.8 percent. Future Meetings There will be a public hearing about the budget on Monday, May 12, 2008 at 7:30 PM in the High School Library. The budget and trustee vote takes place on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM, at Babylon Memorial Grade School. Board Candidates
The terms of Judy Anderson, Henry Brunjes, and Roger Katz will expire this year. All three are running for re-election to a three-year term. They are
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