Residents of the Westbury School District will take to the polls on Tuesday, May 18 to vote for or against the district's proposed 2004-2004 budget of $71,184,386. The proposed spending plan represents an increase of 8.99 percent, or $5,872,903 over last year's contingency budget of $65,311,483, which was applied to support the current year's cost after voters failed the spending plan.

The budget is broken into three components; Administrative, Instruction and Capital with the proposed 2004-05 costs at $7,224,255, $56,788,687 and $7,171,444 respectively. Of the budget's total cost, 19 percent or $13.3 million would be offset with state aid. For 2003-2004, the district received $11.3 million in state aid.

Included in the proposed budget are increases due to contractual obligations, medical and dental insurance, increased enrollment, operational costs and increases in state retirement systems as well as increases in equipment, supplies/textbooks, transportation contracts and BOCES/special education costs. According to district officials, budget increases are being contained through the reallocation of personnel, securing grants to offset program costs, establishing business and educational partnership and cost-efficient management.

With the average home in the Westbury School District assessed at $3,000, the tax rate increase for 2004-2004 would be approximately 8.38 percent or $206.90 per $100 of assessed valuation. As a result, the average homeowner's annual school tax bill would be around $517.26 a month or $6,207.11 a year.

"The proposed budget will allow the Westbury School District to provide its students with the necessary education to compete in a global society," said Superintendent of Westbury Schools Dr. Constance Clark, "Westbury's children deserve a quality education."

* Voter registration will take place on Tuesday, May 11 from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Dryden Street School, Park Avenue School, Drexel Avenue School and Westbury Middle School. To be eligible to vote, you must be 18 years of age or older, a United States citizen and reside in the district for more than 30 days prior to the vote.

* Voting for the 2003-2004 budget and election of trustees will take place on Tuesday, May 18 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Dryden Street School, Park Avenue School, Drexel Avenue School and Westbury Middle School. Applications for absentee ballots for eligible voters who are incapacitated or who will be out of town on May 18 may be obtained by calling the district clerk's office at 876-5026.