Jamestown School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe during the 2018-19 JPS Budget Hearing on Tuesday, May 8.

JAMESTOWN – No one offered comments or questions Tuesday Night during the Jamestown School Board’s public hearing regarding the proposed 2018-19 budget.

The hearing, which was held at Persell Middle School auditorium, provided details on the district’s proposed $86.23 million spending plan, which includes no tax increase and which was unanimously approved by the school board last month.

District Finance Director Vern Connors went over the basis details of the spending plan as well as the two propositions that will also appear on the ballot.

Attendance for the hearing was light and included mostly school staff members and the media, along with the school board.

School superintendent Bret Apthorpe said he hoped the light attendance was due to the public having a good understanding of the proposed spending plan.

“I hope it’s because we’ve been very intentional about communicating with the public from the get-go of this process,” Apthorpe told WRFA following the hearing. “An important part of the board’s goals in this budget development was including the community so hopefully people didn’t come because it was going to be a rerun of what they’ve already heard.”

The proposed budget has a few new positions added, but doesn’t include any major overhaul to programming. Instead, Apthorpe and his staff have said the proposed budget is intended to set the stage for bigger changes that will be coming in the 2019-2020 school year.

“We’ve worked conscientiously with the community to create three initiatives for the 2019-20 school year. One involves creating a Success Academy at the former Rogers school. Another involves a summer literacy program for all of our K through 4 students in the city. And lastly, modernizing our student programming at the high school to align with local labor needs,” Apthorpe said.

Apthorpe also said the main goal of the 2018-19 budget is also to provide better financial stability, and that involves tackling some of the district’s debt.

“What this budget is doing is taking a big swing at the debt service. The district pays $10.5 million a year to debt and that makes us very susceptible to fluctuations in aid because if aid lowers, we still owe that money. That’s how Jamestown was forced to lay off 100 positions in the past 10 years, so this budget takes a big swing at lowering our debt service,” Apthorpe said.

The budget vote and School Board Elections will be held on Tuesday, May 15 from noon to 9 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School and Washington Middle School for registered voters.

The Budget is available to the public at JamestownPublicSchools.org and hard copies are available in the Superintendent’s Office at 197 Martin Road, in each Jamestown school’s main office and at the James Prendergast Library.

Voters will also elect two Board of Education members, each to serve three-year terms beginning on July 1, 2018.

There are three candidates on the ballot: Brianne Fadale, Daniel Johnson and Nina Karbacka.

Five of the seven Jamestown School Board members during the unanimous April 17, 2018 budget vote.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School Board has unanimously approved an $86.23 million budget for next year that includes no tax increase. Compared to the current year’s budget, the total spending for the 2018-19 budget would see an increase of just over $1 million – an increase of 1.18 percent.

During Tuesday’s meeting the board voted on the 2018-19 school budget, following a final budget presentation by school finance director Vern Connors, along with additional remarks by School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe.

Jamestown School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe during the April 17, 2018 school board meeting.

According to Apthorpe, the budget is intended to bring the district financial stability by replenishing or establishing several funds, as well provide long term stability by reducing the districts debt service, all while maintaining the current level of programing.

“We’re preserving program. Jamestown has lost over 100 position in the last ten years, so we have 14 positions in this budget. We’ve also introduced a number of fiscal tools that are unique, its the fist time we’re using them purposely to lower our debt service and get more aid on our dollars spent,” Apthorpe said.

Prior to the board vote on the budget, Apthorpe wanted to clarify that while the district did have options on how to utilize surplus money from the current school year, it also needed to apply the money in a fiscally responsible way by addressing what he calls “The Big Ugly.”

“The ‘big ugly’ for Jamestown Schools is 12 percent of its budget goes toward paying for debt,” Apthorpe said. “As a result our credit rating isn’t so good, which means it costs us more money to borrow. That debt doesn’t go away. So if our state aid is decreased we still have to pay that loan. We still have to pay that debt. So in order to do that we would have to either raise taxes or cut programing.”

Apthorpe also pointed out that Jamestown and other districts across the state received generous state aid totals for this year, but added that historically that has been the case during a gubernatorial election year. However, he noted that in the year following an election year, education aid increases are significantly lower and the district needs to prepare for that now by being fiscally responsible and not adding new debt to an already bloated debt service.

By using some of this year’s surplus to address both immediate and upcoming building and infrastructure needs, the district will save over $1.13 million by avoiding borrowing fees and interest payments if it pays for the work now, rather than borrow and pay later.

All school board members that commented agreed that they were pleased with the final spending plan and its focus, including school board president Paul Abbott.

“I think this budget represents a consensus which is consistent with what everyone in this room cares about – our students, our programs, and improving things overall. I think this will help us address some of our debt service and I’m glad that we are on a track now that is looking toward future budgets instead of just the one-year solution or plan,” Abbott said.

Last week there had been discussion about a slight reduction to the property tax levy, but there was no further mention of that matter during last night’s meeting, prior to the vote.  The tax levy for next school year will be $14.64 million dollars – where it has basically remained since the 2010-11 school year.

Another component of the budget is the establishment of a capital reserve fund of up to $2 million, which would require approval by district voters via a referendum.  If that is approved, $2 million from this year’s surplus would be place in a fund and then applied to future capital projects. Because the state could fund up to 98 percent of the projects, the fund would allow the school to pay the local share of a future capital improvement plan up to $100 million without having to borrow or build that cost into future budgets.

Residents who want to learn more about the budget can attend a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, May 8.  The school election and budget vote will take place on May 15.

More details about the budget can also be found, or will soon be posted, at the District Website’s Budget Page.

Jamestown Public School finance director Vern Connors goes over details of the proposed 2018-19 school budget with Jamestown School Board members and staff during the board’s April 10, 2018 board meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School Board is getting closer to approving the district’s $86.23 million budget for next school year.

During the board’s meeting on Tuesday night, school finance director Vern Connors walked the board through an updated budget presentation that was put together after the state finalized its school aid numbers for Jamestown.

According to Connors, Jamestown will see an increase of $1.2 million in aid over the current year’s budget, bringing total state aid to about $67.86 million for next year. That amounts to 78.7 percent of total revenue for the district. The district’s property tax levy of $14.64 million would cover another 18.9 percent of total revenue.

With an expected surplus from the current year, combined with additional aid for next year, Connors said the 2018-19 budget is intended to serve as a transitional budget for the district that will focus on long-term needs and liabilities, including reducing the district’s debt service and freeing up future moneys for program needs.

It also calls for restoring or establishing various funds, with that money being utilized for future anticipated and unanticipated expenses without having to rely on tax payer money to offset those costs.

The budget also calls for $1 million to be put toward immediate capitol improvement and infrastructure needs, along with the purchase of five new school buses without having to borrow.

The board has also agreed that it will focus on adjusting programming in the 2019-2020 budget and as a result, is only looking to add 14 positions for next year – with six of them being listed as contingency positions – ad a cost of an additional $530,000 over the current year’s budget.

Compared to the current year’s budget, the total spending for next year’s proposed budget would see an increase of $1,003,372 – an increase of 1.18 percent.

Board Members Discuss Tax Reduction

School board members Shelly Leathers and Patrick Slagle again lobbied for a slight 1 percent ($146,415.76) reduction in the property tax levy, saying that because the district now has some financial flexibility, it may be the time to provide relief to city property owners.

“This is a great budget and I can’t see why anyone would vote against this budget. We’re doing a lot of great things and we’re setting ourselves up to do some great things in the future,” Slagle said. “But I think that a 1 percent tax reduction is well within our means without sending things out of control… every year I’m always willing to say lets see what we can do to reduce the tax burden on our citizens.”

However, other board members, including Nina Karbacka, Christine Schnars, Dan Johnson, and Joe Pawelski all said that that the board has done a good job in holding the line on taxes – considering there’s only been one permanent increase during the past 10 years.  They also said that some of the long-term financial planning the district is pursuing will help to continue holding the line on taxes.

“In deciding our budget goals, we talked about wanting to maintain a stable school tax levy and I am certainly, absolutely in support of that – that we don’t increase the tax levy and we don’t increase taxes for our tax payers. But we also said we want to improve student performance and we have things coming up in the future like the Success Academy that we want to promote, put money into it, and provide success avenues for our students…. I would be opposed to giving money back to the taxpayers and reducing the tax levy, instead of doing some of the things we could do to improve student achievement,” Schnars said.

“I think our first obligation is the student in our school system. Though we have kept our program stable, it does not acknowledge the fact that over the past ten years we have lost almost 100 positions,” Karbacka said, adding, “I think that keeping [the tax levy] where it is is very fiscally responsible. It’s been there for ten years. As our cost of living and expenses have going up over the past ten years, our taxes have remained the same. You could almost look at that as a tax reduction because everything else has gone up for everyone, except for our taxes.”

Board president Paul Abbott said he would be in favor of a slight tax cut as well, but added that he would support the budget with or without a tax reduction, so long as there was no tax increase.

“For the first time I think I’m prepared to also support the idea of a half percent or 1 percent decrease in the tax levy,” Abbott said.

Superintendent Bret Apthorpe said he appreciated the spirit of the tax cut discussion, but also reminded the board that it needs to be careful on how it proceeds.

“The work we’ve done does dignify long term planning. It does dignify the challenges our city has. It does dignify decreasing our debt service because our debt service is about 12 percent of our budget, and that’s too high. If we want to maintain long-term stability – and that means quality student programming and we keep the zeros on the tax levy moving head – the budget that we’ve worked on here has been trying to dignify all those things.”

Still, Apthorpe said he and his staff will work on a couple of different options to pursue in regards to the tax cut issue and bring details forward during the next school board meeting.

The board will see a final version of the budget – along with what impact a tax cut would have on future budgets – during next week’s board meeting on Tuesday, April 17. It will then vote on the final spending plan, which would then be put forward for a public vote in May.

Members of the Jamestown School board listen to Finance Director Vern Connors (far left) as he provides details and options to consider for the 2018-19 school budget.

JAMESTOWN – As the Jamestown School Board continues to review and discuss the estimated $85 million 2018-19 school budget, members are faced with the task of what to do with a multi-million surplus that will carry over from the current school year.

During Wednesday’s school board budget work session,  Jamestown School Superintendent Bret Apthorpe and Finance Director Vern Connors presented the board with the latest information regarding the current year’s budget, as well as what options to consider for next year’s spending plan, which the board must finalize by the end of April.

The two administrators pointed out that the district is expected to finish the current school year with a $9.9 million in unassigned fund balance money.  Under state law, the district can put up to $3.4 million of that money into a fund balance reserve for next year – which would equal 4 percent of its overall budget. The school board is then left with the decision on how to appropriate the remaining $6.5 million.

The school administration is recommending the school board apply $2.34 million into the district employee retirement reserve fund, to help address possible future financial challenges related to employee retirement contributions to New York State. Another $2 million was recommended to go toward overdue building repairs and infrastructure work that can’t wait until the next capitol project proposal, which is three years away. And another $2 million was suggested to be placed in a newly created Capitol Reserve Fund to cover local taxpayers’ share of future capital projects.  If the board decided to go with that appropriation, a public referendum would have to take place to establish the new capitol reserve fund.

Apthorpe and Connors did not recommend that any of the money be applied toward a property tax reduction for next year. The concern from the school administration is that any decrease in property taxes would impact the district’s property tax cap formula in future years and limit future budget decisions. The school district has not had a tax increase since 2011.

The board will decide on how to appropriate that money at some point in April when it finalizes its 2018-19 budget plan.

WAITING FOR FINAL STATE FUNDING NUMBERS

Meanwhile, the school board continues to wait for the state to finish its budget so school officials know specifically how much state aid the district will be receiving. The state budget is expected to be passed on Thursday and officials re projecting it will cover about 78 percent of total revenue for the school year.

As school officials wait for the final budget numbers to come in, school administrators are recommending the addition of at least eight Full Time Equivalency (FTE) positions and 6 contingency FTE positions for the next year. Additional positions could be added, depending on how much additional state aid the district may receive.

School board member Nina Karbacka noted that she would like to see more of a focus on restoring teaching positions and program, which saw a drastic cuts during the past decade.

Apthorpe said that he and his staff are continuing to review and develop the district’s Success Academy plan and approach to improving student performance. As a result, he said it’s likely the board will act on even more staffing additions in the 2019-2020 school budget.  He said the 2018-19 budget is really more about “getting out of survival mode and entering financial planning mode.”

With the surplus and better financial positioning for next year, both school board members Shelly Leathers and Patrick Slagle lobbied for a slight 1 percent decrease in next year’s tax levy, which is projected to be $14.6 million – the same as the current year.

“We’ve got the surplus and we’re looking at putting $2.3 million in [the employee retirement fund], so I’m just looking at distributing the surplus differently,” Slagle said. “Just brainstorming… but we can just put $2.1 million in there and then we have enough left over for a 1 percent tax get back.”

However, that suggestion didn’t appear to garner enough support from other board members, due to the concerns it would have on future tax cap formulas. Even though it’s doubtful a tax decrease is in the cards, all board members agree that there will be no tax increase for property owners for the eighth consecutive year.

“In the years it was difficult we made difficult decision and in the years things are going better I think we owe it to our students and our goals,” School Board President Paul Abbott said. “I think we should just keep it flat. I’m very committed to the idea that we don’t raise taxes in a year like this, when things are good. And in the years when things are bad, I’m still committed that we don’t raise taxes. Good times and bad, that has been this board’s position. We’re starting to see the positives from that approach and I think with the goals that Dr. Apthorpe has set, we should continue on that course.”

Apthrope and his staff will present their final budget recommendations next month, with the school board then working to finalize the plan so it can be put up for a public vote on Tuesday, May 15. A public hearing on the budget would take place on Tuesday, May 8.

Jamestown Public Schools Director of Finance and Business Affairs Vern Connors walks the Jamestown School Board and staff members through a preliminary 2018-19 school budget presentation during the board’s March 13, 2018 meeting.

JAMESTOWN – Jamestown school officials began the 2018-19 budget process Tuesday night during the school board’s monthly meeting.

Jamestown Finance Director Vern Connors walked the school board through some of the known factors of next year’s budget, as well as providing details on where the current year’s budget is projected to finish.

Connors said that under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget, Jamestown is projected to see a 3.2 percent increase in state aid for next year, although much of that aid can only be used for construction and other capitol improvements. The actual amount in foundation aid is just under 2 percent. The total amount in state aid the school would receive under the governor’s plan is $67.5 million dollars.

He also said that the district is once again committed to not raising school taxes, meaning the tax levy would remain at $14.6 million. As a result, overall revenue for next school year is expected to be $84.87 million – an increase of just 1.2 percent from the current year’s revenue.

If the board were to decide to implement a tax hike, it could go as high as 2 percent before the state tax cap law would take effect, meaning any increase over that percentage would have be approved by a super-majority (60 percent) of district voters in May.

As for the current year’s budget, Connors said both the overall revenue and expenditure lines are lower than originally projected, with revenues projected to come in $2.4 million over expenditures, which would give the district some carry-over money for next year, if the projections stay on track.

Connors also covered several changes in state funding law being proposed by the governor, which includes a new “aid cap” of 2 percent for all state aid going toward building, transportation, and BOCES programing.

Another proposal is the controversial School-Level Funding plan, which would impact public schools that receive a total annual amount of state aid which exceeds 50 percent of their revenue. Jamestown would be one of those schools. Under the proposal, each district would be required to report how that money is being distributed among their various schools to ensure equitable distribution of state aid.

While the governor and his administration are pursuing those changes, School superintendent Bret Apthorpe said that it’s unlikely they will gain enough traction in both the state Assembly and state Senate to be put in place.

A 5-year history of revenue for the Jamestown Public schools, including the projections for the 2018-19 school year.

Following the presentation, school board president Paul Abbott said that the presentation was a good start to the budget process but there are still some unknowns at this point.

“The challenge at this point is not being quite sure what the state budget is going to do to us. We are limited to some extent on our planning because we can’t put things in there that may or may not get through. We have to wait and see how the budget gets through to the legislature,” Abbott said.

Despite the unknowns, Abbot said there are some opportunities the board will pursue.

“We have experienced in the past a number of difficult years. I think the direction we are going is to certainly try to restore some of the things we have lost – programs or positions – but also to set up the infrastructure in the district in a manner so we can shield ourselves to unexpected expenses, so that any improvements we make and any programs we implement would be sustainable and we would be able to weather the ebbs and flows of the state budget,” Abbott said.

Abbot also said the board is once again committed to working to ensure there is no property tax increase for district property owners.

The board will continue to review the budget during its next meeting. It has until the second half of April to finalize a spending plan and present it to district residents for a public vote.  The public hearing on the final budget will take place on May 8 and the public vote on the budget is May 15.

Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Apthorpe gave details on a student walk-out that had been planned for Wednesday at the high school. The walk out was intended to honor the victims of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting from a month ago, as well as raise awareness about the need for legislation intended to improve safety for students.

However, due to Wednesday’s inclement weather, school was canceled and the walkout did not take place. It’s not know if the students and school staff will instead coordinate the walkout at a future date.

At a public auction held on October 14th, the district received one bid to buy the Crescent Street Warehouse for one dollar.

“The Crescent Street Warehouse has been unused for over 10 years as the district no longer has a need for this building,” said Vern Connors, JPS Director of Finance & Business. “The building would need extensive renovations to be useable. However, the renovations are cost-prohibitive for the district due to New York State Education Department building regulations.”

“If the district does not sell the building, the only other alternative would be to demolish the building, which would cost approximately $500,000,” Connors continued. “In addition, the sale will put the property back on the City of Jamestown’s tax roll. The district must receive approval from the public vote in order to sell the building to the winning bidder.”

The district encourages all registered voters to vote on Monday, October 30, 2017 on the proposed sale of the Crescent Street Warehouse. If you have any questions on the proposed sale, please contact Mr. Connors at 483-4497 or vernon.d.connors @ jamestown.wnyric.org. If you are unsure where to vote, please contact the District Clerk at 483-4420.

Jamestown School Finance Director Vern Connors (standing) goes over the final 2017-18 school budget presentation with the school board prior to its vote during Tuesday’s meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School Board has approved an $85 million budget for the 2017-18 school year.  There is no tax increase for the 2017-18 budget.

The board took action on the spending plan after a lengthy review and discussion during Tuesday night’s board meeting, which included an update on the amount of school aid the district would be receiving from the state.

According to school Finance Director Vern Connors, Jamestown would be getting nearly $1.07 million more in general operating funding, compared to what was initially being projected in the governor’s proposed spending plan.

As a result, school officials were given a rare opportunity to increase staffing levels. However, Connors and interim superintendent Sylvia Root both explained to the board it would be prudent to hold off on finalizing which new positions could be brought in for next school year until after final enrollment numbers are known.

Root said that will all the district an opportunity to apply the additional funding in the areas that need it the most.

“The Budget came in late to begin with, and it was a pleasant surprise – so that was great – but we look at our needs and as time goes on and we talk more and more with our principals and and teachers, we definitely want to have a little room to make some changes as the needs change. And from year-to-year, those needs do change with our student body,” Root explained.

The district will likely see the addition of two full-time elementary teachers at Bush and Persell schools, an elementary music teacher, two full-time teachers and two paraprofessionals in English for Speakers of Other Languages, and one full-time school psychologist. In addition, there is the possibility of positions being created in other areas, once enrollment numbers are better known.

School board president Paul Abbott said that he was pleased with the outcome of the budget process this year, considering the district has had to deal with some lean budget in recent years.

“It’s a very encouraging budget cycle, which is something we have not had the luxury of since the time I’ve been on the board,” Abbott said. “It gives us the opportunity to put back some positions that we have lost over the year. I appreciate the work of Mrs. Root and Mr. Connors and the entire staff for giving a good analysis of where these resources can be spent most wisely, and doing so in a fashion that will be sustainable in future budget cycles, despite the state aid that we will or will not get.”

Details of the budget can be found at the school website in the coming days. A budget hearing will take place on May 9, where the public can get more details and also ask questions about the plan. It will go up for a public vote on May 16.

Jamestown Interim Superintendent Sylvia Root goes over staffing recommendations for the 2017-18 budget with the Jamestown School Board during the March 28 school board meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School Board spent time Tuesday night reviewing the numbers for the 2017-18 budget.

The proposed expenditures the tentative $83.9 million spending plan would include $56.8 million for Salary and Benefits, $10.7 million for debt service, $8.4 million for BOCES Services, and $1.4 million for utilities. The remaining $6.5 million would cover other expenses associated with operating the district.

For the current year, the projected spending would equal $76.8 million, with $52.9 million going toward Salary and Benefits, $9.5 million going toward debt service, $7.0 million going toward BOCES, and $1.4 toward utilities.

The tentative budget numbers for next year is projected to be a $7.1 million increase from the current year. However, school finance director Vern Connors says more than half of that increase is due to construction projects in the district and also at BOCES, which would be offset by additional state aid. For the current year, the district received $61.5 million in total state aid. Next year’s aid total is expected to be at least $65.2 million, although that could be higher depending on how the final state budget shakes out.

The district’s tentative budget for next year would have no tax increase for local property owners.

With additional state aid expected to be coming into the district, along with an anticipated surplus from the current year, interim superintendent Sylvia Root suggested the district add a total of eight teacher and staffing positions.  She said that due to student population in some grades, the district should add two full-time elementary teachers, an elementary music teacher, two teachers and two paraprofessionals for Speakers of Other Languages, along with a school psychologist.

The addition of eight positions is a change of course to what the district has endured during the past several years. Starting in the 2009-10 school year and continuing through 2015-16, the district cut a total of 110.5 positions, including 59 teacher positions.

The board hopes to finalize the budget in the coming weeks, once a new state budget has been approved in Albany and the final state aid numbers are known.

Jamestown School Finance Director Vern Connors (standing) goes over the preliminary 2017-18 budget with the school board during its March 15 meeting at Ring School.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown School District won’t be facing any layoffs and residents won’t see a tax increase in the 2017-18 school budget.

That was the message Wednesday night from District Finance Director Vern Connors, who delivered a preliminary budget presentation to the school board during its meeting at Ring School. He said there are still some questions that need to be resolved, but at the very least, next year’s budget will not include any increase to the tax levy, nor will it involve any staff cuts.

Connors also said some issues that remain up in the air is the final amount of state aid the district will likely receive from Albany, along with how the district will deal with the disposition of its Warehouse on Crescent Street. The warehouse has been deemed an “excess” that is no longer useful to the district and depending on how the district disposes of the property, it could cost $500,000 next school year – although that money would come from the school’s fund balance, if it is needed at all.

The preliminary budget has an increase in spending of $4.7 million over the current year’s $79.18 million spending plan. However, much of that increase will be offset by state aid and other anticipated revenue streams. As a result, the actual increase the district will have to deal with will be about $1.8 million, with most of that amount being covered by an increase in state aid.

More details will be discussed during the March 28 board work session, but School Board President Paul Abbott says it was a good start to the budget process.

“Compared to other years I’m encouraged,” Abbott said. “If things stay as they seem to be, and it looks like there is even some potential for more assistance with a couple of programs, then hopefully this could be one of our better years for the budget. We’re not looking at any staff cuts, which is something that we’ve unfortunately had to experience a lot in the past few years, and this is coupled with another year of no tax increase, which we have understood the taxpayers are already pushed to near their limit. So we’ve tried to be very conservative in our budgets and we continue to follow that path.”

Between 2008 and 2012, the district was forced to eliminate 100 staff positions due to various financial challenges, and between 2013 and 15, another 26 positions were cut.

In addition to looking at specific details of the budget later this month on March 28, the district also must wait until the state finalizes its budget before it has a clear indication on how much state aid it will receive. The state budget is due by April 1.

BOARD TO MEET AGAIN THURSDAY NIGHT

A Special Meeting of the Jamestown Board of Education will take place on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The closed-door meeting will involve the board considering which consulting firm it would like to enter into a contract with, in regard to assisting with finding a new school superintendent.

Previous superintendent Tim Mains left last month for a job on the other side of the state and the board has hired Sylvia Root as an interim superintendent.

Jamestown School Superintendent Tim Mains presents the tentative 2016-17 budget during the school board’s March 10, 2016 meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The 2016-17 budget for the Jamestown School District will not have a tax levy increase and will not see any teacher layoffs.

That from Jamestown school superintendent Tim Mains, who joined district finance director Vern Connors Thursday night in presenting the preliminary numbers for next year’s school budget.

Mains said there were a couple of factors that allowed administration to bring forward a tentative budget that didn’t have a tax increase or call for layoffs.

“We certainly have some additional revenues from the state, which are helpful,” Mains said. “We also have some huge reductions in what we have to pay in retiree benefits. The very large amounts we had to pay dropped dramatically and that helped us a lot. And of course, all the cuts we’ve absorbed over the past few years, those savings carry forward.”

Total spending for the tentative budget is $79.14 million – a $1.45 million increase (1.9 percent) over the current year’s budget.

Much of the increase will be covered by additional state school aid, which will be at least $1.14 million more than the current year’s funding. But that amount could be more, depending on whether or not state lawmakers plan to increase education aid in the state budget, which is still being worked on in Albany.

The tentative revenues and expenditures for the 2016-17 Jamestown School Budget, as presented by school administration on Thursday, March 10, 2016.

The state spending plan is expected to be completed by April 1, giving Jamestown and other districts the final piece of information they’ll need before completing their spending plan.

One of the concerns brought forward by Mains and echoed by the school board is the low fund balance the district has maintained in recent years. That also caught the eye of the state comptroller, who cautioned that the district needs to restore its fund balance to relieve fiscal stress. As a result, Mains said he’s only proposing the use of $500,000 from the fund balance for next year’s budget.

“If you look at the past five years, we have slowly been decreasing the amount we pull from fund balance to apply to the next year’s budget. This year we are using the least amount that we’ve used in six our seven years. And we’re only proposing half a million dollars for next year. That’s designed to allow us to build the fund balance back up,” Mains explained.

Mains said he will present the budget’s impact on the districts recently completed 5-year Strategic Plan on March 29. An updated version of the budget, with final state aid totals, is also expected to be presented to the school board during its April 5 meeting.

The school board will likely finalize the budget by the end of April, with the budget voted scheduled to take place in Mid-May.