Bethlehem A to Z heading

Budget

May 15, 2012 Voting Information

Voting will take place at Bethlehem Central High School from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15.

• Who can vote? To vote, you must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen, and a resident of Bethlehem Central School District for at least 30 days prior to the vote. You do not need to be registered to vote.

• Voting will be held in the upper gym at BCHS. The school is located at 700 Delaware Avenue. Park in the lot on Delaware Avenue, and use the main entrance on the Delaware Avenue side of the building.

• Absentee ballots are still available for those who plan to pick them up at the district office. Details

• The district will conduct an anonymous exit survey of voters on the day of the vote. Please consider submitting this valuable feedback to the district. Details 

 

School budget rules in New York State

• A single statewide voting day. All school districts in New York State will vote on the third Tuesday of May.

• Who can vote? To vote, you must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen, and a resident of Bethlehem Central School District for at least 30 days prior to the vote. You do not need to be registered to vote.

• A required public hearing. A public hearing, once optional, now must be held 7-14 days before the vote to explain the proposed budget.

• A revision of the budget format. The budget itself must be divided into three categories: program, administrative and capital. The public still votes on one single budget figure. However, in the printed materials provided by the district, voters must be able to see what proportion of spending goes to each of these three categories.

• Limit on the number of budget votes. School boards cannot submit a budget more than twice to voters. If the first vote is defeated, a school board can opt for a contingency budget or resubmit the defeated budget or a revised budget to the community. After a second defeat, a board must adopt a contingency budget.

• New rules for contingency budget. Under the new law, If two budget votes are defeated, districts would be prohibited from increasing the tax levy from the previous year.
In a contingency budget, school boards must still honor employee contracts and follow state mandates. All cuts would come from non-mandated items.

• Exceptions to the budget cap. Contingency budgets may exceed the cost of living cap on some items including: costs associated with enrollment growth; capital projects; emergency repairs; gifts and grants; tax certiorari costs; court-ordered costs; and expenditures of insurance proceeds