Southeastern Greene passes school budget without tax increase
MAPLETOWN – Southeastern Greene School Board unanimously adopted its budget Monday night without a tax increase for the 14th consecutive year.
The board adopted the $10.887 million operating budget that will keep taxes at 23 mills.
The spending plan is about 1.6 percent higher than last year’s budget. The slight increase was because of higher contributions to the teacher retirement program, which went up about 16 percent. Salaries and benefits will account for about 64 percent of budget, business manager Pat Sweeney said.
The district is also transferring a $750,000 surplus from last year’s budget plan to the capital reserve account, Sweeney said.
“We were able to put more money into the capital reserve for future projects,” Sweeney said.
The board passed the budget by a 6-0 vote, with school directors J.R. Antill, Leonard Novak and Joseph Spiker absent from the meeting.
Also during the meeting, the school board agreed to keep the 7.5 percent discount for early property tax payments. Meanwhile, the homestead/farmstead exemption this year will include a $295 reduction for property owners.
The board also voted unanimously to hire John DiFillipo as a secondary English teacher.
The school board is scheduled to meet next month at 7 p.m. July 18 in the Mapletown High School cafeteria.