White Plains Voters Pass $199.9 M 2014-15 Proposed Budget by 4 to 1 Margin. Eller, Stein Returned to Board of Ed (unopposed). | WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR---65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. May 20, 2014:

Interim Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors , far left,observes the final numbers go up as the final election district results are chalked up by Michele Schoenfeld. Observing are Board of Education members: left to right: Charlie Norris, Rosemarie Eller, Rose Lovage and Peter Bassano

At 9:28 P.M. Tuesday evening, Clerk to the School Board Michele Schoenfeld wrote the final outstanding polling district still not accounted for, and once again White Plains voters representing 3% of all the city registered voters had overwhelming passed the proposed $199.9 Million school budget by 4 to 1 margin, 81.5% of voters approving the budget.

Interim Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors called it “a good showing.”

A total of 875 voted in favor and 199 voted opposed.

Elected without opposition to second terms were Board of Education President Rosemarie Eller, left and Randy Stein. Eller received 908 votes, Stein 858

The approved budget raises the cost per pupil in White Plains (7,050 students is the enrollment anticipated for school year 2014-15) to $28,354 per student.

The budget increases the tax rate 2.9% from $183/$1,000 of assessed valuation to $600/$1,000 of assessed valuation to pay for a 2.3% increase in spending of $6.5 million over last year’s $193.4 Million budget.

As presently constituted, the $199.9 budget voters approved today increases the property taxes on a $650,000 home (median priced home) to approximately $10,000 ($9,885–an increase of $281) in school taxes next year, compared to $9,604 last year.

In 10 years, the school district has cut the budget only once and that was in 2010-11, under Dr. Christopher Clouet when he was Superintendent of Schools.

At the present growth rate of the school district, if wages stay the same and staff stays the same, and costs stay the same the district budget will reach $220 Million in 2019-20, four years from now.

The turnout according to Ms. Schoenfeld was slightly more than the 2013 budget turnout which saw 888 vote.

The unofficial totals on the budget vote by Election District:

Fire Station 7: 52 YES, 6 NO

Church Street School: 209 YES 44 NO

Rochambeau School: 65 YES 13 NO

Middle School 215 YES, 51 NO

Mamaroneck Ave School, 61 YES 10 NO

Ridgeway, 270 YES 75 NO

TOTAL; 875 YES, 199 NO