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Lindenhurst asks voters to approve a budget increase of 5.3 percent Lindenhurst School District voters will be asked to approve a budget of $134.2 million on Tuesday, May 20. The new spending plan will maintain all current programs and services, as well as help to finance new educational initiatives. The Lindenhurst School District is currently operating under a budget of $127.3. The new spending plan is $6.9 million or 5.39 percent more for the 2008-2009 school year. The current tax rate is $162.03, and the proposed rate for 2008-2009 is $170.55. This new budget will see a total tax increase of 5% in school taxes to the average homeowner. Figures are based on current state aid figures and property assessments. State Aid for 2009 is $49.8 million, a $3.3 million increase over last year's $46.5 million in aid. The district is also applying $3.3 million from its fund balance to offset the tax levy increase. With the new budget in place, the district hopes to maintain all current programs and services, while enhancing those programs with new initiatives. The breakdown of the budget shows staffing and programs accounting for 74.9 percent, capital 14.58 percent, and administration costs at 10.52 percent of the budget total. New initiatives include additional exploratory courses, additional advanced placement courses, new algebra textbooks for the high school and over 250 new computers to be distributed throughout the district. The only significant cut to the budget is with staffing, which projects the elimination of 24 teaching positions due to declining enrollment. Superintendent Neil Lederer discussed the challenge in developing a budget that meets educational needs, state and federal mandates, as well as the financial limits of the community: "We wanted to keep [the budget] as low as possible so that it would be affordable to the community as well as meeting the educational needs of the children," he said.
The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20 at Albany Avenue School, William Rall School, E.W. Bower School, Daniel Street School and Lindenhurst Middle School.
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