Vote Tomorrow

None of our local districts plan to exceed the tax cap, which, as you will see, varies from district to district. The so-called "2% tax cap" is affected by a variety of exclusions, from pensions to PILOTs to growth factors, so that in our county, nobody's is exactly 2 percent. Our county's districts have stayed below theirs, though some have come quite close to the cap.

Here are the budgets folks will vote for or against on Tuesday, May 19, as indicated on the districts' websites. Remember that the tax levy increase does not equal the increase in what you will pay as a taxpayer; your rate will depend on property assessment data, some of which is not yet available in most districts.

School	Budget	# of Kids*	Budget Increase	Tax Levy Increase
Dryden	$37,979,493	1,630	2.23%	2.47%
Groton	$19,060,954	808	1.29%	0.43%
Ithaca	$115,014,480	5,102	1.09%	2.99%
Lansing	$28,370,000	1,136	1.98%	3.74%
Newfield	$18,364,369	752	3.10%	2.30%
Trumansburg	$26,016,051	1,073	4.50%	2.20%

*Note that my enrollment data derive from state data for 2014 and may be off this year's numbers by as many as 50 students one way or the other.

Voters will vote on propositions as well: For or against appropriations for buses in all six districts, for or against building/repair projects in Dryden, Groton, Newfield, and Trumansburg, and for or against support of the community library in Newfield and Trumansburg. On our old lever machines, the propositions are often at the top, as shown by the yellow arrow here.

Polls are open from 7 AM to 9 PM in Dryden and Lansing, and from noon to 9 PM everywhere else.

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