May vote will include two board positions

DUNDEE--Board members John Frederick and Matthew Camacho will not be returning to their respective positions on the school board. This comes due to them moving out of the district. Frederick and Camacho made their announcements at the regular school board meeting Thursday, Feb. 12. Frederick said Thursday was his final board meeting, adding he will be moving to Oregon, while Camacho, who will be finishing out his term, will be moving to South Carolina.
Superintendent Kelly Houck said both positions will be up for election May 19. Those interested in running for the positions must submit nominating petitions to the district clerk by 5 p.m. April 20. Those interested in running must have 25 signatures on the petition in order to run. Houck said the board will operate one member short until filled by the election.
In budget news, following a review of the Dundee Central School District's 2015-16 budget situation Thursday, the Dundee school board is uncertain regarding what tax levy increase the district may see next year. School Business Official Melissa Lawson said this is due to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "unprecedented" stance on the executive budget, where he will hold the amount of school aid districts receive in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 budgets to the amount received in the 2014-15 school year if the state legislature cannot come to an agreement on his proposals. School board president James Koehler asked the board what they believe to be an acceptable tax levy increase for the coming year, but the board members were hesitant to say until more information is available.
"It is hard to say at this point until the unknowns are known," school board member Matthew Camacho said. "We don't know all our options."
Board member James Hill said if the board is able to come close to last year's 3.9 percent increase, he would find that acceptable. Koehler said there have been years that the bills sent out were lower than the levy approved in the budget, adding he is opposed to any measures that would shrink the school's programs.
Lawson said the state aid could range anywhere from a 1.5 percent aid increase to a 4.8 percent increase. She said the districts may not know what the aid numbers will be until as late as April 1.
The budget forecast provided by Lawson indicated what the district's budget situation would look like if the state were to put the funding at the minimum 1.5 percent level. These projections have the projected real property tax levy to be raised at $4,815,000, which is (0.4 percent) less than the current year's tax levy. Lawson said this is a conservative estimate that reflects if the district is able to comply with the tax cap requirements for next year.
"This is reflective too if we are able to comply with the tax cap requirements," Lawson said. "We would have to have a levy that is essentially where we are currently."