Community Corner

Mt. Sinai School Budget Passes by 71 Percent

Super says voters passed budget "overwhelmingly."

The Mt. Sinai community came out and "overwhelmingly" passed the school budget and a proposition to transfer existing funds of $327,000 from the capital reserve to pay for a renovation of the Middle School roof, according to Superintendent Enrico Crocetti.

The  $55.2 million budget did not exceed the district’s tax levy cap and is a spending increase of .96 percent over the current budget.

The budget passed 1088-435 (71 percent), while Proposition 3 passed 1,135-344. In the Board of Education election, two incumbent ran unopposed. Lynn Jordan received 1,030 votes and John Kostic had 888 votes.

A light turnout earlier in the day reenforced the words of board president Robert Sweeney who said that it was important for people to come out to vote.

"It is so important that while this budget sounds positive, that you the representatives of the community remind everyone that the only way to move forward is to vote," Sweeney said when the budget was initially adopted. "Apathy becomes our enemy."

Enough people came out to vote for the budget and the capital reserve but not everyone was happy about it.

Deborah Lang told us on Facebook that although the board of education and administration is tapping into reserves to keep the budget in line, she see it running out.

"They said they will continue to tap into the reserve funds to keep the budget in line but this money is expected to run out in 2017," she said.

On Facebook Annette Mahoney-Cross told us that she wants to see school activities somehow preserved in the future if reserves run out.

"The new superintendent has clearly worked very hard with the board to stay within the tax cap," she said. "Hopefully in the coming years they will all work with the community to develop creative ways to fund extracurricular activities so these valuable programs are not lost when we drain our reserves."


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