OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Silver Creek Business Manager Matt Miller described the district’s proposed budget at a recent Board of Education meeting.

SILVER CREEK — The Silver Creek and Forestville school districts share plenty of programs. Apparently, they also share a philosophy when crafting their budgets for this upcoming year.

Gone are the days of no tax increase that each district has presented its taxpayers in each of the past two years. Forestville has proposed an increase of 2.3% for this upcoming year’s budget, and Silver Creek’s proposal is not far behind.

The Silver Creek Central School District has proposed a 1.97% tax increase for the 2025-2026 budget. If approved, the total tax levy would amount to $6,469,605.

Silver Creek Business Manager Matt Miller described the district’s proposed budget at a recent Board of Education meeting. The proposed budget for 2025-2026 is $32,558,678, which amounts to an increase of $1,232,212 from the previous budget.

The key increases in the proposed budget include $260,244 in salaries; $262,223 in benefits; $217,050 in BOCES services; and $166,794 in contractual obligations. Other increases are due to expenses that were covered in previous budgets with American Rescue Plan Act funds, which have since expired.

Of the total budget, programming costs amount to $23,894,590. That figure includes salaries and benefits of non-administrative roles, along with special education costs. The budget also includes $5,317,398 of capital costs, such as buildings and grounds maintenance and transportation costs; and $3,346,690 of administration costs, including salaries, benefits, training, and curriculum.

Per the latest figures proposed at the state level, the district expects $20,292,402 from the state of New York, including a 2% Foundation Aid increase of $180,089. The district also anticipates $950,000 in Native American Aid and $520,000 of Impact Aid, along with federal grants.

The district estimates $28,657,954 in total revenue, which is more than $3.9 million below the proposed budget.

While the district is proposing an increase of just shy of 2%, that increase is less than half of the percentage the district was allowed to request under the tax cap. The maximum allowable increase for 2025-2026 is 4.125%. The district chose to ask for a moderate increase in order to avoid substantial cuts.

Miller shared that according to the most recent equalization rates of the district, the proposed increase of 1.97% would amount to an increase of 39 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for residents of the town of Hanover; 38 cents per $1,000 in the town of Brant; and 47 cents per $1,000 in the town of Sheridan.

Seeing an increase in costs and tax rates is nothing out of the ordinary in the region or beyond. For Silver Creek schools, one of the only figures actually showing a steady decline is the enrollment itself.

In the 2000 census, Chautauqua County had a population of 139,750. That figure decreased to 134,905 in 2010, then down again to 127,657 in 2020. Cattaraugus County followed the same trend, with a population of 83,955 in 2000, down to 80,317 in 2010, and 77,042 in 2020.

Since the census in 2020, Silver Creek schools have seen enrollment continue to decrease. In 2020-2021, the district had 1,116 students enrolled. By 2023-2024, that figure dropped by 30 students. This year, enrollment is 1,031 – a decrease of 85 students since 2020-2021.

The district will hold a public hearing regarding the proposed budget on May 8. The budget vote takes place on May 20, along with voting for two open seats on the Board of Education. More details will be published through an official legal notice at a later date.