OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Forestville Superintendent Dr. John O’Connor discussed why the District is proposing a 2.3% tax increase alongside Business Administrator Kerrie Pelletter at a recent meeting.

FORESTVILLE — Superintendent Dr. John O’Connor gave more than a year’s worth of notice that an increase to Forestville school taxes would be coming this year. He held true to his word, as the District is eyeing a 2.3% tax increase when the budget is finalized later this spring.

The District avoided a tax increase in back-to-back years thanks to substantial reserve funds saved up. This year, as those reserves have been drawn down to much closer to regular amounts, the District deemed it necessary to request a 2.3% tax increase — the maximum the District could request without exceeding the tax cap.

In total, a 2.3% increase amounts to an increase to the total levy of $93,853, bringing the total tax levy for 2025 to $4,123,697.

The District expects a decrease of over $300,000 in State Aid from last year’s figure. While the District expects an increase in Foundation Aid of $110,579 and an increase in Transportation Aid of $25,047 from last year’s figures, Building Aid and BOCES Aid figures took a major hit. The District expects a decrease of $378,724 in Building Aid and $74,835 in BOCES Aid this year.

In all, the District’s proposed State Aid in 2025-26 is $8,093,649. That represents a decrease of 3.59% from last year’s total of nearly $8.4 million.

The increase of 2.3% from taxpayers will offset those figures a bit. Still, the District will be well shy of the revenue it had to work with a year ago. Nearly $100,000 of additional reserved fund balance more than last year’s amount will be applied to the upcoming budget, projected at a total of $737,657 to be applied this year.

As of June 30, 2024, the District maintained a total fund balance of $5,877,913. Of that total, 14% was unassigned fund balance, totaling $828,376. With the allocation of funds to account for increased costs and decreased State Aid, the District’s unassigned fund balance will decrease to approximately 6%, much closer to the State recommended amount of 4%.

The District’s expenses are still expected to increase, especially when it comes to salaries and benefits. As those costs rise, the District knows it cannot just rely on its fund balance each year to make up for the increase, as it has in the two previous years.

“This is not a sustainable model over time,” O’Connor said.

Some of the figures discussed at the recent meeting by O’Connor and Business Administrator Kerrie Pelletter could be adjusted before the final proposal is approved and put out for a vote. The District will discuss the budget proposal further at a workshop prior to its next regular Board of Education meeting on March 13, beginning at 5:15 p.m. in the Middle/High School Library.