The Tioga Central School District’s board of education voted yesterday to try and get its budget passed a second time. A proposal– that included a 30 percent tax levy increase– failed to get the 60 percent super-majority needed to pass on Tuesday night. The board will meet next Tuesday to decide whether to make slight adjustments to the previously-proposed budget. Those adjustments could include tinkering expenditures and the tax levy. But, board members said they expect to adopt a budget on Thursday May 28th that looks nearly identical if not the same as the one that included the 30 percent levy– all with the hope the district can garner enough support to pass it in a second vote. On Tuesday, 621 people voted for the budget and 559 voted against it. The 52 percent “yes” vote was not enough to reach the 60 percent super-majority legally required to break the tax levy cap. If the second version of the budget does not pass on June 16, then the board is required to adopt a contingency budget which would include over 900,000 dollars in budget cuts. If the contingency budget is adopted, the possibility exists that the Tioga school district could merge with another district or dissolve altogether. In a twist that surprised even the school board members, a representative from Tioga Downs attended last night’s meeting. The representative expressed interest in helping the district fund the budget gap. No official plans were made at the meeting, but board members appeared receptive to considering the idea.
