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Marion board approves budget proposal, moves $800K-$850K bus purchase and $5M capital reserve to ballot
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Summary
The Marion Central School District board approved a 5.34% proposed budget increase and the property tax report card, and voted to place a bus purchase ($800,000–$850,000) and a new 10-year capital reserve (up to $5 million) on the ballot; BOCES and four-county ballot lines were also approved.
The MARION CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Education on Monday approved the district's proposed budget and property tax report card and agreed to put two reserve-related propositions on the ballot: authorization to buy five gasoline/diesel buses and the creation of a new 10-year capital reserve that would allow deposits up to $5,000,000, excluding interest.
The vote came after the district's finance official summarized the numbers: a 5.34% year-over-year increase in the proposed budget, a tax levy capped at 2.48% (requiring a simple majority), and an unappropriated fund balance of about $991,000 to keep the district near a 4% fund balance target. The presenter said the budget uses $438,000 of fund balance to balance the spending plan and listed planned reserve uses including $315,000 for ERS, $65,000 for workers' compensation, $120,000 for TRS, and $100,000 as a debt-service offset.
The finance official also described attorney guidance that any ballot proposition creating or spending reserves should be board-approved before it goes to voters. "We're looking to spend $800 or up to $850,000 to purchase 5 gasoline diesel buses," the official said, and recommended approval to include that proposition on the ballot. The board moved and approved placing both the bus purchase proposition and the new capital reserve proposition on the ballot.
Why this matters: approving the property tax report card and placing reserve propositions on the ballot determines what voters will decide in the coming election and sets how the district plans to use fund balance and reserves to smooth taxes and fund capital needs. If voters approve the capital reserve, the district would be authorized to accumulate up to $5 million over the reserve's term (not counting interest) for a future project around 2030, the finance official said.
Votes at a glance: the board recorded voice votes approving (1) the BOCES budget as presented, (2) all four-county ballot lines as "yes," (3) the motion to place a bus purchase proposition on the ballot, (4) the motion to place a capital reserve proposition on the ballot, and (5) approval of the budget proposal and property tax report card. The transcript records the motions passing by voice vote; specific roll-call tallies were not specified in the meeting record.
Next steps: the board scheduled a budget hearing for May 5 and the budget vote on May 9 at MES. Presenters also said election staff will use a new iPad-based sign-in system to comply with state reporting requirements and that training for poll workers is scheduled ahead of the vote.
