CHENANGO COUNTY – Residents in all eight school districts in Chenango County headed to the polls Tuesday to weigh-in on their respective district’s spending plan for the 2016-2017 academic year. Many schools also included additional propositions on the ballot, such as bus purchases and capital reserve increases, as well as a budget for their local libraries. Results of each school district is as follows:
Afton Central School
Voters of the Afton School District favored the district’s $15.48 million spending plan in a vote of 166 to 60.
The budget represents a $274,716 (1.81 percent) spending increase over last year.
Voters also cast ballots for three candidates vying for one five-year term on the school board. That seat will be filled by Keith Ives, Sr. who received a total 111 votes.
Voters additionally passed a proposition to purchase a 54-passenger school bus and a 15-passenger handicap accessible bus for an amount not to exceed $173,000.
Bainbridge-Guilford Central School
B-G’s $18.3 million budget passed in a 290-102 vote. The budget is a $1.52 percent spending increase over last year.
Voters also favored a proposition to borrow $298,000 for the purchase of three school buses in a 314-83 vote; and another proposition to increase the district’s capital reserve fund from $1.5 million to $10 million in a 274-118 vote.
The district had four candidates competing for two vacant seats on the school board this year. Those seats will be filled by Kay Striegler (291 votes) and Emily Hall (266 votes).
Greene Central School
The Greene Central School District will see a $25.4 million budget for next year after voters approved it in a 279-112 vote. What’s more, the Moore Memorial Library’s budget of $158,000 was passed, 296 to 86.
Residents in Greene also voted for three people to fill vacancies on the Greene school board. Tammie McCauley, Ethan Day, and Seth Barrows will fill those vacancies, having earned 245 votes, 304 votes, and 246 votes respectively.
Norwich City School
While a final vote is still being tallied, district officials believe it’s safe to say Norwich’s proposed $41.3 million budget is a go.
The 2016-2017 budget calls for a $881,837 spending increase and a tax levy increase of 1.8 percent.
The district also had two school board vacancies to fill, each carrying a three-year term. Of the four candidates vying for those seats, unofficial results indicate that Howard Sullivan and John Klockowski will both return to the board next year.
District residents also approved next year’s budget for the Guernsey Memorial Library. The $1.1 million budget calls for a 2.5 percent ($26,886) spending increase.
Otselic Valley Central School
Otselic Valley’s $10.6 million budget was passed in a 149-75 vote on Tuesday, giving the district approval for a 1.88 percent spending increase.
The vote means an increase in the consumer price index of .12 percent.
Voters additionally favored two propositions during Tuesday’s election, one for the purchase of four new buses and a car, and another to establish a capital reserve account for the district. The propositions come at a cost of $509,854 for the buses and another $42,746 for the car.
Two people – Brian Wood and Mark Swayze – were elected to OV’s school board. Wood will fill the remaining four years of a term left vacant by a resigning school board member while Swayze will serve a full five-year term.
Oxford Academy and Central Schools
The $19.6 million spending plan for the Oxford School District was green-lighted by residents in a 152-39 vote on Tuesday.
The budget carries a $503,904 (2.64 percent) spending increase over the 2015-2016 budget and seeks a .12 percent increase in the consumer price index.
With a vote of 143-48, the district’s proposition to purchase two 30-passenger school buses at an amount of $229,000 also passed, as did the $141,835 appropriation to the Oxford Memorial Library with a vote of 153 to 34.
The district sought to fill one vacancy on its school board this year. Voters cast 48 write-in ballots for Tahitian Tefft for that position. Fred Lanfear received 157 votes for another vacancy on the library board.
Sherburne-Earlville Central School
Sherburne-Earlville’s proposed $33.3 million budget was approved by voters, 227 to 31.
The 2016-2017 district budget seeks a .39 percent or $128,952 increase over the 2015-2016 budget and a zero percent tax levy increase.
The district had two vacant seats on its board this year with just two candidates running: Thomas Morris and Julie Bigger. Both received votes on Tuesday.
Two local library budgets were also voted on by residents. The Earlville library budget (with a $2,500 increase over last year) was passed in a vote of 216 to 42 while the Smyrna library (with a $5,000 increase) passed in a vote of 210 to 48.
Unadilla Valley Central School
With a proposed tax levy increase of 1.54 percent, Unadilla Valley’s $19.1 million budget passed in a 187-49 vote on Tuesday.
The budget reflects a spending increase of $474,487 (2.55 percent) over the 2015-2016 budget.
Voters also voted on two school board candidates, both of whom were running unopposed. Tammie Emrich and Kristin Rumovicz will fill the district’s two board vacancies next year.
What’s more, district residents passed a bus lease by a vote of 200 to 35, and a capital reserve fund was approved in a 193-42 vote.
The South New Berlin Library also passed its budget in a paper ballot vote of 86 to 15.