By a vote of 1,567 to 745, residents of the Broadalbin-Perth Central School District approved a $35,894,890 budget for the 2020-21 school year. The approved budget calls for a 5.7% spending decrease from the 2019-20 school year and a 3.74% tax levy increase, which is below the district’s calculated tax levy “cap.”
The vote total was the most ever cast in a school budget vote at Broadalbin-Perth since the district was established in 1987. Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order requiring school districts to conduct their annual budget votes exclusively by absentee ballot. Broadalbin-Perth mailed absentee ballots to 7,200 registered voters.
District residents also approved (1,522 to 779) a proposition that will allow Broadalbin-Perth to purchase three 66-passenger school buses, one 20-passenger bus, and one 15-passenger van. The state will pay for approximately 78% of the cost of the purchase, and there is no tax increase associated with the bus purchase.
Residents also voted to fill two seats on the Broadalbin-Perth Board of Education. There were two candidates on the ballot. Incumbent Keith Buchanan was elected to a third five-year term with 2,037 votes, and Chad Egan was elected to his first five-year term with 1,993 votes. Egan will replace Charlie DeZolt, who did not seek re-election.