Taxpayers in the Farmingdale School District will head to the polling booths at Howitt School next week, where they will vote on both the district's proposed $80.34 million 1999-2000 budget and three unopposed candidates for the school and library boards.

The Farmingdale Board of Education adopted the 1999-2000 school district budget, which increases spending by 6.5 percent over last year, on April 27. The district expects the tax rate increase associated with the plan to be about 6 percent.

Much of the increase in Farmingdale's adopted budget is related to salaries, with $48.2 million slated for that category, as opposed to $45.8 million last year. Included in that increase is the district's plan to hire new teachers who are needed due to growing enrollment and new programs, many of which will help students meet the new, state-mandated all-Regents graduation requirements.

The budget does not include construction costs associated with the need for new classrooms caused by enrollment growth, and other initiatives being planned by the district. These are expected to be funded by a multi-million dollar bond proposal that will be presented to the voters for approval in the fall.

"This school district budget has within it 13 new classroom teachers to support our enrollment growth - eight of those at the elementary level, and, of course the portion of music, art and physical education teachers that will be needed for those students as well," Barbara Horsley, assistant superintendent for Farmingdale schools said this week.

"The budget also includes programs that will support our students as they will strive to meet the new New York State Standards. It does not include any of the construction costs that we've been talking about in the last few months for full-day kindergarten, and the moving of the sixth grade. Those costs will be put before the voters in a bond sometime in the fall."

The upcoming vote follows a series of opportunities for public participation in the budget process, including a public hearing required by state law that was held Tuesday night. That meeting was attended by fewer than 30 residents, with one parent voicing support for the budget, and none speaking out against it, according to Horsley.

In addition, the board's adoption of the budget followed a public input meeting that was held on April 21. That meeting, which is not required by law and serves as an invitation for the public to voice their concerns prior to the adoption of the budget, was poorly attended by taxpayers. Of the approximately dozen people in attendance, about a handful spoke, with some asking questions about the budget and others voicing concerns about the district's annually increasing tax rate.

The polls will be open on May 18 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the Howitt East gymnasium, and any resident who is registered to vote is eligible.

Although it is not known how many of the district's registered voters plan to have their say on May 18, last year's low turnout illustrated the lack of voter participation that is widespread in school districts. Last year, the district's budget passed by less than 300 votes, with 'yes' votes totaling 1,236 and 1,022 rejecting the measure.