SOUTH OTSELIC – Last Tuesday, residents of the Otselic Valley School District voted down the school’s proposed budget for 2007/2008 with 137 votes for the budget and 170 against it. At last night’s special meeting, the school board voted to move directly to the contingency budget, instead of attempting to come up with another budget proposal for voter approval.
Superintendent Larry Thomas showed the board members the results on an exit poll conducted after voters cast their ballots on Tuesday. A total of 370 people voted, and of those, 102 participated in the exit poll.
“It’s not all one-sided,” said board member Dave Cruikshank while examining the exit poll results. “There are people who think we should have cut more, people who think we should have cut less and people who think we did a great job.”
Board President Greg Brown agreed. “We’re in a position where I don’t think we can change the budget enough to make one side happy enough to get it passed,” said Brown.
Originally, Otselic Valley’s proposed budget, totaling $8,178,842 would have meant a 4.59 percent budget increase from the previous year and a 5.77 percent tax levy increase. Board member Dan Brown asked Business Administrator Nancy Henner to explain what the contingency budget would look like.
Henner explained that because the proposed budget was already inside the contingency budget, there would be limited changes for the district. The contingency budget would prevent the school from buying equipment that was not needed for health or safety reasons, meaning the lawn tractor that was written into the initial budget will not be purchased, but the cost of the tractor will still be in the budget for emergency situations. Public use of school facilities would also be altered, with non-school related organizations having to pay for use of the facilities.
“So whether the budget was passed or not, you end up with the same budget as what was proposed,” said Dale (Suki) Fox, who will be filling a spot on the board of education next year. The board affirmed that because of the unique situation they are in this year, that was true.
Athletics and school related extracurricular activities will not be affected by adopting the contingency budget. The three teachers and two support staff that were cut as a result of the proposed budget will still be cut, and the raises the board voted to give to the administration and the confidential employees will still be given.
“Confidential employees are not necessarily entitled to a raise under the contingency budget, but if you can prove there is a change in responsibilities, you can provide an increase,” said Thomas.
The contingency budget shows absolutely no change from the originally proposed budget. The budget will total $8,178,842.
“We’re in a different position than ever before, because we don’t have to make additional cuts to go to the contingency budget,” said Dan Brown. Board member Doug Evans agreed. “Let’s save ourselves the expense of a re-vote. If we’re already there (in terms of the monetary amount), I don’t see why we would need to vote again. Let’s save some money,” said Evans. The board voted to adopt the contingency budget.
“I hope we’re able to get through this as a community,” said Thomas.