On Tuesday, April 16, the Troy City School District Board of Education unanimously adopted the proposed 2019-2020 budget of $114,174,990. The tax levy will be $37,200,798, representing a 1-percent tax levy increase, which is $326,455 below the allowable tax cap of 1.89 percent. If approved by voters, a typical homeowner would see their annual school tax bill increase by roughly $22, or less than $2 a month.
On May 21, residents will vote on the proposed budget and will elect three candidates to the Board of Education.
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 more in Aid than what was included in the Executive Proposal.
The proposed 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. The proposed budget also includes several program additions including: Math/STEM/Coding at Troy Middle School; Internship program expansion; modified lacrosse; additional nurse support and more.
“It is our responsibility to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money and we were mindful of that during the budget development process,” said Superintendent John Carmello. “We decided to propose a budget that is well below the allowable tax cap, but one that finally allows us to enhance programs and supports for our students.”
Each year, the budget development process includes the identification of areas in which the District can save. This year some of the savings were found by reducing the number of elementary sections due to fluctuations in enrollment in certain grade levels. Class sizes will remain low. There are also several teacher retirements which will result in savings for the District.
Because the District has once again stayed within its tax cap, some taxpayers are eligible for the State’s property tax relief credit.
For additional information about the May 21 vote, please visit our Budget web page.