The earliest version of Cobleskill-Richmondville’s 2025-26 budget shows revenues up a bit and expenses up even more.
There’s a sizable gap between expenses and revenue, but time exists to close that gap, Superintendent Matt Sickles told school board members Monday night.
“This is the roughest draft of the budget you’ll see,” he said.
The first draft has spending at $49.6 million, about $2.6 million more than C-R’s current budget of $47 million, Business Manager Tracy Fraleigh said.
In the rough draft, spending is up 5.3 percent and revenue, 1.4 percent.
Factors raising expenses include employee contracts, which are being negotiate, health insurance premiums rising an estimated 10 percent and C-R’s share of a new BOCES facility in Albany, Ms. Fraleigh said.
On the revenue side, Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed a two-percent increase in foundation aid, Mr. Sickles said.
The rough draft also takes $1.750 million from fund balance, or savings, as revenue, and Mr. Sickles pointed out that taking too much from savings is risky.
The bottom line in the earliest budget is that expenses are $1.858 million higher than revenues in the earliest budget.
That budget gap, however, isn’t as large as the one when work began on the current budget; that gap was $2.4 million, Mr. Sickles said.
Not included in the rough draft budget were a school resource officer, which school board members have discussed, a director or administrator for the Committee on Special Education, reading intervention at the high school and a replacement plan for aging vehicles.
Whether any of those work their way back into the budget is unknown, Mr. Sickles said.
The primary goal, he added, will be to narrow the budget gap, which include looking at programs, finances, fund balance, the tax levy and more, Mr. Sickles said.
There’s time to do that work. Mr. Sickles doesn’t expect a second budget presentation until the school board’s March 10 meeting.
“This will be a collaborative process with a lot of people involved,” he said.
After the March 10 meeting, C-R will hold a special meeting March 19 to get feedback on the budget.
Although the Citizens Budget Committee didn’t form because not enough people signed up, those who did ask to serve will be invited to the March 19 meeting, Mr. Sickles said.