2023-24 Lancaster Central School District Budget

[Lee Chowaniec]

Posted today on the Lancaster Central School District website:

At the April 18, 2023, board of education meeting, trustees adopted a $130.7 million spending plan that maintains all current educational offerings and instructional programs while remaining within the property tax levy cap limit.

The budget reflects an increase of 6.90 percent and calls for an estimated tax levy increase of 3.31 percent, $1,609,510 below this year's maximum tax levy cap.

Check back often, as budget information will be posted to our website as it becomes available. The annual budget meeting will be held on Monday, May 8, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Lancaster High School Auditorium, located at One Forton Drive. Voting for the 2023-24 budget and board member election will be held in person on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Lancaster High School Java Gym.

Comment

Five days before the May 8th annual budget meeting and still no budget details on the school website or by mail. Disappointing!

[gorja]

Posted today on the Lancaster Central School District website:

At the April 18, 2023, board of education meeting, trustees adopted a $130.7 million spending plan that maintains all current educational offerings and instructional programs while remaining within the property tax levy cap limit.

The budget reflects an increase of 6.90 percent and calls for an estimated tax levy increase of 3.31 percent, $1,609,510 below this year's maximum tax levy cap.

Check back often, as budget information will be posted to our website as it becomes available. The annual budget meeting will be held on Monday, May 8, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Lancaster High School Auditorium, located at One Forton Drive. Voting for the 2023-24 budget and board member election will be held in person on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Lancaster High School Java Gym.

Comment

Five days before the May 8th annual budget meeting and still no budget details on the school website or by mail. Disappointing!

I got mine in the mail today

[Lee Chowaniec]

I got mine in the mail today

Thanks for posting this, Gorga. It is reassuring knowing the mailer information is coming.

And it gives the opportunity to start scrutinizing a budget that encompasses a high spending increase and significant increase in school taxes on short notice with the budget hearing coming Monday.

[gorja]

Budget details


https://www.lancasterschools.org/cms...0Statement.pdf

[yaksplat]

So, nothing ever happened with the state audit showing that Lancaster was charging 13% too much in our tax bills?

https://www.osc.state.ny.us/files/lo...er-2022-37.pdf

[gorja]

Was this their Corrective Action plan?
https://flic.kr/ps/mJCv3

[gorja]

[QUOTE=gorja;2094377]Was this their Corrective Action plan?
/QUOTE]

[yaksplat]

So, the district found that there's nothing wrong, according to them, and therefore didn't correct anything? Am i reading that right?

[gorja]

So, the district found that there's nothing wrong, according to them, and therefore didn't correct anything? Am i reading that right?

I know. That's the way I understood it too. That's all I could find.
It really doesn't make sense

[Lee Chowaniec]

As of this posting, I, nor anyone in my community received the 2023-04 Lancaster Central School District (LCSD) budget mailer. We did receive our absentee ballots a few weeks ago. Strange.

Finally receiving a copy from another party, and from the information provided on Speakup, it becomes clear what all the controversy is about and how politics is impacting the decision-making process.

A 6.90% spending increase resulting in a $0.64 per thousand dollars of assessed property tax rate increase is significant – especially in this economic climate where families are making sacrifices to put food on the table and paying for ever increasing housing and energy costs.

School Board president Mike Sage assures us that this budget proposal fills all the boxes in meeting student educational, physical, mental, and social-emotional well-being levels, and is fiscally responsible. Lancaster has become a destination district says Sage, for families that want to provide their children with an exceptional education.

Lancaster has a great school district, ranked in the top 10 Western New York school districts. Presenting a budget that promises to continue the status quo will please voters with children in school, educators, and unions, all who assume all taxpayers have the means or will to continue a status quo that offers no sacrifice but expects sacrifice at the hands of their constituency.

One size doesn’t fit all, and voters should get involved in the process, asking questions like when the district received all this largesse from federal and state grants, the tax levy estimated increase is 3.31%. Where the use of fund balance to offset the tax levy increase has been as high as $11 million is only $7.5 million this year. The need for turf fields, etc. Union contracts, teacher salary and benefit increases.

Candidates

All 6 candidates vying for seats appear well qualified for a board position. I have always commended school board members for their efforts and commitment to serving the public without compensation.

It was disturbing to receive a post by the Town of Lancaster Democratic Committee inserting itself in school business, endorsing candidates Sage, Jackson, and Talbot based on their holding similar party progressive – socialist ideology.

While doing so, the post rips the other three candidates for ‘supporting dangerous precedents that we see happening in Florida and Texas. They want to ban books. They have problems with diversity, equity, and inclusion. They want to argue about gender identity and sexual orientation, instead of loving all children. And worse yet, they think the school board is the place to wage these culture wars.”

I would like to hear someone question the candidates Monday evening on their thoughts concerning the salacious, divisive, spiteful post.

I believe Monday's event s going to be live-streamed. It is incumbent on voters to view the meeting, learn from other sources to determine whether the proposed budget, in their mind or in their circumstance is fiscally responsible and worth voting for. -

[gorja]

Orignally posted by Lee Chowaniec:
It was disturbing to receive a post by the Town of Lancaster Democratic Committee inserting itself in school business, endorsing candidates Sage, Jackson, and Talbot based on their holding similar party progressive – socialist ideology.

While doing so, the post rips the other three candidates for ‘supporting dangerous precedents that we see happening in Florida and Texas. They want to ban books. They have problems with diversity, equity, and inclusion. They want to argue about gender identity and sexual orientation, instead of loving all children. And worse yet, they think the school board is the place to wage these culture wars.”

I wonder where you found that post.

This is what i found from the GOP dated Friday, May 5-


This is what I found from the Dems dated Saturday, May 6-


I don't see anything akin to what you wrote

EDIT:

I stand corrected.
Found the Twitter post. I agree. This post is political.


This Democratic post has done no favors for Sage, Jackson and Talbot.
In fact, this post has turned me off so bad that I will vote for the other three.

[yaksplat]

I can't trust anyone that claims to be a robotics software engineer, at a bank, after being a branch manager, with no history or degree in computer science. That's a whole lot of fake right there.

[Lee Chowaniec]

FYI

Tonight's Lancaster Central School Board's budget meeting will be live streamed from its website.

The Meet the Candidates forum will begin at 6:00 pm.

An excellent opportunity to become informed.

[OutsidetheBox]

Straight from Tara Romig's bio:

"Finally, I strongly believe in the importance of providing age-appropriate content and literature in our school libraries and curriculum."

That's a nice way of saying that she supports banning books.

[yaksplat]

What's wrong with age-appropriate books?