During the April 3 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent John Carmello presented Draft 3 of the 2019-2020 proposed budget. Thanks to an increase in State Aid over the Governor’s proposal, the District will be able to add needed supports for the first time in several years while staying below the tax cap.
On April 16, the Board will vote to adopt the proposed budget of $114,174,990 with a tax levy increase of 1 percent, below the allowable tax cap of 1.89 percent.
Although still drastically underfunded in Foundation Aid by nearly $11 million, lawmakers kept their promise to direct a significant amount of additional Aid to high needs districts like Troy CSD. The District will receive nearly $1.5 million in Aid than what was included in the Executive Proposal.
Thanks to this increase in aid, Draft 3 of the budget includes additional social workers to provide more mental health support than the District has ever had. It includes additional instructional support at the elementary schools. Draft 3 also includes several program additions including: Math/STEM/Coding at Troy Middle School; Internship program expansion; modified lacrosse; additional nurse support and more.
“Although the tax cap is set at 1.89 percent, we want to lower the burden to our taxpayers by offering a tax levy increase of 1 percent instead,” said Carmello. “Thanks to the increase in State Aid, we are able to do this and include necessary supports and programs for our students.”
View the full presentation here.
Visit our Budget web page for previous presentations, budget development timeline, voting information and more.