NEW SCOTLAND — At $30 million, the Voorheesville Central School District’s initial draft budget for the 2023-24 school year is up 6.7 percent over this year’s voter-approved spending plan.

The district, for the second year in a row, is not projecting a budget shortfall for the following year, which is unusual in a first-draft spending proposal. 

Two years ago, Voorheesville was looking at a pandemic-induced $1.4 million budget gap — an unusually large sum that, due to federal government largesse, turned into a one-time surplus of about $693,000. The district has started three previous budget seasons $100,000, $200,000, and $542,000 in the red. 

The state-set levy limit for next year is estimated at approximately $20.2 million, a 2.5-percent increase over this year, which translates to under a 1-percent tax-rate increase, according to the district. Voorheesville could set its levy at $20.6 million, a 4.32-percent increase.

The school board has been discussing bigger tax breaks for veterans and one for volunteer first responders, which would increase taxes for most property owners, but has yet to take any action on the issues.

The most recent rate paid by property owners in the district, in fiscal year 2022, was $18.12 per $1,000 assessed value, according to real property tax rate levy data from the state Department of Taxation and Finance. 

At last month’s school board meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations James Southard explained to board members the district’s “true value” tax rate this year is about $16 per $1,000 assessed value, meaning that, although the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value is about $20.25 in New Scotland, $18 in Guilderland, and about $33 in Berne, the uniform percentage that each municipality is multiplied by — set by the state at 81, 91, and 50 percent respectively — gets those numbers to approximately $16 per $1,000.

 Voorheesville is slated to receive a total of $8.9 million from New York State next year — a 17.12-percent bump over what it received this year, largely due to a major increase in Foundation Aid, which is set to increase from approximately $4.37 million to about $5.66 million. Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget, on which the state legislature still has to weigh in, fully funds Foundation Aid next year. 

The district’s other sources of revenue for next year are an approximate $750,000 fund-balance allocation and $40,000 from the federal government.

Board elections are held on the same day as the budget vote, May 16.

On the expenditure side, the district’s largest outlays are set to be:

— Salaries, at $14.5 million, up 8.6 percent from this year;

— Medical and dental insurance, at $5.9 million, an increase of 6.6 percent from this year; 

— Board of Cooperative Educational Services payments, at $3.1 million, an 8.7-percent increase over this year;

— Contractual payments, at $1.98 million, up 5.2 percent; and 

— Retirement payments, at $1.47 million, an increase of 3.5 percent from this year. 

Board President Rachel Gilker is up for re-election, as is the seat currently occupied by Barbara Owens, who was appointed to the board in September after James Coffin stepped down over the summer. 

Also on May’s ballot is a $422,000 bus proposition: two 65-passenger for $328,000​ and a van-based bus for $94,000​.