AVON-BY-THE-SEA — The Avon Board of Education announced a school tax increase of less than one percent for the 2023-2024 as it approved a total operating budget of $4,898,458 for 2023-25 on April 25.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The tax rate increase was misstated in the headline of a story published in the May 4 print edition of The Coast Star.]
During the presentation, Business Administrator Amy Lerner explained that the .09 increase in the school tax rate will equate to a $5 increase for a home assessed at $1.2 million.
The total appropriations are $5,654,284 for the district. The local tax levy comes in at $4,035,783 with a repayment of debt at $412,175 and capital outlay at $354.
According to Ms. Lerner, 82 percent of the revenue taxes come from local taxpayers and four percent is paid for through state aid. She also attributes the increase in taxes to classroom instruction, supplies and transportation costs increasing and tuition and enrollment decreasing. Ms. Lerner also mentioned that the HVAC system is going to need work done in the near future.
“The goal of developing our budget is just to maintain and refine the integrity of what is going on here in the school,” said Superintendent Michael-John Herits “Not only are we responsible for the 120 or so odd students here in the building, but there are 145 students from preschool to grade 12.”
There was no discussion from the public about the budget and it was unanimously adopted by the board.
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