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Amityville and Copiague voters pass school reelect incumbents to school boards Voters headed to the polls on Super Tuesday, May 15, voting on their annual school budgets and selecting school board trustees. In Amityville, residents approved their $69.9 million school budget 734 to 442, and reelected trustees Michelle Sikhrangkur and Juliet Jordan Thompson, 659 and 805 votes respectively. The two incumbent trustees ran without opposition. "The budget was approved by almost a 2 to 1 margin," commented Dr. Brian De Sorbe, school superintendent. "We have tried to be fiscally responsible and to provide a quality education and I think taxpayers responded to that by passing this year's budget." The approved budget is an increase in the tax levy (that portion of the budget to be paid by real estate taxes) of approximately 3.89 percent. The tax levy increase is expected to bring the Babylon Town tax rate from $145.85 to $151.50, and the Oyster Bay rate from $518.05 to $538, however the district's Superintendent of Business Enrique Catalan cautions that the final assessments have not been received and those figures could change by the fall, when the tax levy is set. The district is expected to receive approxi- mately $1.7 million more in state aid than last year's $16.1 million figure. Seventy nine percent of the total budget is for programs, above the state average of 65-70 percent. "What this means is that more money is going to the children," said Catalan. Copiague: Three incumbent trustees, Doris Fischer, Everett Newman III and Michael Greb were reelected to office. Fischer and Newman ran unopposed while Greb defeated candidate Darline Jackson. In addition, district voters approved a new $91.2 million budget that will enable the district to utilize $4 million in new state aid to shore up programs, hire more teachers, provide tutorial intervention and add guidance counselors and school security.
The budget-to-budget increase is 7.55 percent but is expected to carry a projected tax rate increase of 1.7 percent, one of the lowest the district has had in a decade. That would bring the current tax rate from $152.25 to $154.92. A homeowner living in a home assessed at $3,700 would pay an annual school tax bill of $5,732.04, an increase from this year's figure of $5,633.35. Those figures are excluding New York State tax relief rebates such as STAR and Enhanced STAR.
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