On Wednesday night, the Homer-Center School Board approved the 2021-2022 budget, and while it contains a tax increase, it is not as high a tax increase as was originally advertised.
Last month, the board approved a budget that contained a near half-mil tax increase. Over the last month, the administration was able to reduce the tax increase to .2476 mils, representing a 1.5 percent tax increase. District business manager Gregg Kalemba said the tax increase represents about $86,000 in additional tax revenue for the district, and he also said that this will help minimize the budget gap not just for this year, but for the future.
The vote went 6-3, with Robert Valyo, Daniel Fabin and Michael Bertig voting against the budget. Fabin said that he appreciated the hard work that was done by the administration, and that the slight tax increase will hopefully cause people to bring the fair funding issue before state government representatives again.
In other business, the district approved mask rules for the next school year. Masks will not be required in the district, but students who are under the age of 12, are not vaccinated, or are in high-risk situations will be encouraged to wear masks.
