The Mineola School District Board of Education will hold a budget hearing tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of the Willis Avenue School during which the proposed budget for the 2007-2008 school year will be discussed. The school budget vote is May 15.

Superintendent of Schools for the Mineola School District Dr. Larry Licopoli feels the district and the board have put forth a very good budget in front of the public.

The proposed 2007-2008 budget calls for $75,664,471 in expenditures, a 5.46 percent increase over the budget that passed by voters last May. Of the $75,664,471, the amount that is expected to be raised by taxes is $68,315,407 for an increase in the tax levy of 4.7 percent.

According to the district, the proposed budget would result in an average annual tax increase of $236. However, that is only if your assessment remains the same and if there are no changes in the adjusted base proportions.

Many district residents have experienced increases in assessments in recent years. If the assessment increase trend continues for many homeowners in the district, such an increase in assessment would also cause taxes to rise.

Although district residents are urged to go to the polls on May 15 to exercise their right to vote on the school budget, there doesn't appear to be much of a difference between the proposed budget and a contingency budget if the school board should be forced to adopt one. The contingency budget would only be $330,340 less than the proposed budget and while the district estimates that the proposed budget would cost the average residential taxpayer $236, a contingency budget would cost $211.

As in years past, the board and the district have attempted to cut costs through staff reductions. The proposed educational plan and budget calls for the reduction of nine full-time equivalent teaching positions. The overall staffing reductions since 2003 include four full-time equivalent administrative positions, 35 full-time equivalent teaching positions, five full-time equivalent clerical positions and 20 full-time equivalent teacher aide positions.

Although the district has sought to cut positions in recent years as it has also sought additional revenue streams, the budget continues to increase from year-to-year. Salaries and benefits make up 78.7 percent of the budget, which is down from 81.5 percent a year ago.

The district has four contracts due to expire this June 30. Those contracts include those between the board of education and the teacher's association, the board and the teacher aide association, the board and the custodial association, which includes bus drivers, and the board and the teacher's association for teacher assistants. According to the district, settlements for these contracts are accounted for in the 2007-2008 budget within the board's parameters.

In addition, an increase in debt service has also accounted for the budget increase. Debt service is going from $2,662,355 in the 2006-2007 budget to $3,859,442 in the proposed 2007-2008 budget related to the $10,045,000 bond that was passed by voters last year.