As the clock struck 10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, Garden City residents were still coming into the high school library to cast their votes for the school budget. With the largest voter turnout in nearly 10 years, Garden City residents passed the 2010-11 budget by a margin of 3,241 to 1,991.
On May 18, Garden City residents voted down the budget 1,662 to 1,459, with a gap of 203 votes. After additional cuts, the revised 2010-11 budget totals $97,988,490. With a reduction of $286,766, the budget-to-budget increase over the current year is 2.91 percent (reduced from 3.21 percent) and the tax levy increase is 4.18 percent with STAR (reduced from 4.52), which results in the average homeowner paying $369.26 in school taxes.
School Board President Colleen Foley officially declared the revote results and spoke briefly during the BOE meeting. “I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who came to meetings, supported us, gave us their opinions in developing this budget in getting to this point. I am, we all are, extremely happy that we have a budget going forward to next year,” she said.
In a written statement, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Feirsen responded to the results of the vote. “We are delighted with the result of the budget vote and the support of the community. The dialogue that occurred during the budget process has been very productive and has provided the board with good insight into the concerns of the community. We now look forward to implementing the budget and having a great 2010-2011 school year,” he said.
