VOORHEESVILLE — The 2014-15 Voorheesville School District budget was approved by the board of education at a meeting on Monday, April 21. The entire board voted in favor of the budget, which is set at $22,713,608.
The budget barely squeezed under the state-set levy cap, and is $327,696 more than the 2013-14 budget, an increase of 1.45 percent. The tax levy increase is 2.04 percent.

At the meeting, board members iterated that the “dollars will stay the same,” but they reserve the right to make changes in how that money is allocated. Speaking to The Enterprise on Tuesday, Superintendent Teresa Thayer Snyder echoed this sentiment, saying the board can move within the numbers if things change, such as increased enrollment creating the need for an additional section of a specific grade. If something like that were to occur, the district could shuffle funds to make sure all needs were adequately met.

When asked how she felt about the budget being one step closer to finished, Thayer Snyder said, “It feels good, especially because it wasn’t as awful as we were led to believe,” by the initial numbers.

The final state budget allocated $144,210 more in aid to Voorheesville than the governor had initially proposed; the entire state allocation makes up not quite a quarter of revenues.

Thayer Snyder is “optimistic” about the budget being approved at the public vote on Tuesday, May 20. At the same time, school district voters will decide on a $220,000 proposition for new buses and a new snow plow, and will also vote on returning two incumbents, Cynthia M. Monaghan, and Kristine L. Gravino to their seats; no one is challenging them.