Although the Katonah-Lewisboro school board has experienced moments of contention this year, it managed to work collegially together on the 2005-06 budget. At Tuesday's meeting, all seven trustees said they support the budget and explained why.

Earlier in the year, the board rejected the superintendent's original $93,403,000 budget and requested that he suggest cuts to bring the tax increase in Lewisboro to under 10 percent. Over a period of several weeks, the board considered the array of reductions suggested by the administration and ultimately cut $750,000 to arrive at a final budget of $92,653,000.

According to district officials, the tax bill for a house assessed at $80,000 will be $12,400 in Bedford (a 1.9 percent increase), $13,000 in Lewisboro (a 9.4 percent increase), $14,200 in North Salem (an 8.8 percent increase), and $8,700 in Pound Ridge (a 3.3 percent increase).

It's up to the voters on May 17 to decide if the efforts of the board and administration were sufficient to gain voter approval.

"Our work is done," said board president Don Scott. "We have recommended an expenditure amount, and it's been described in terms of what programs would be covered, what initiatives, and what tax impact."

Board member Robert Dixon, who is running for reelection, said he supports the budget because he can't see what more to cut, but he hopes that in the future the board will look for ways to reduce costs.

"As far as where we are now, I don't know where [to cut costs], so I support the budget and I ask all of you people to support it also," he said.

Board member Robert Meyer said he also supports the budget, but added that he hopes next year the board will start earlier on budget development and look for areas in which to reduce costs.

"The medical costs are something that's just escalating out of control - 17.8 percent this year, 17 percent last year, and again an astronomical figure the year before," he said.

Mr. Meyer suggested that the board look for a health care provider that offers deeper discounts.

Board member Peter Breslin pointed out that most of the budget is either mandated or contractual. He said that salaries and benefits are almost 80 percent of the budget and should be addressed during the next contract negotiations. "At this point, we can't do anything about those," said Mr. Breslin.

Mr. Breslin said that 9 percent of the budget increase is for debt service to repay money borrowed for construction and bus purchases approved by voters in prior years, and the district is equally helpless to control the 12.3 percent and 81.5 percent increase in contributions to the employees' retirement system and teachers' retirement system, respectively.

"The budget's a compromise; it's not a perfect document," Mr. Breslin said. "It's the best the board can do to compromise with what we feel provides more educational excellence and what is fiscally responsible."

Mr. Breslin said that the board members should all take responsibility for the rancor displayed this year.

"That's embarrassing to all of us, and maybe many in the community are unhappy about that and maybe there are some folks who are unhappy about the administrators' contract, the teachers' contract, you name it - we've heard it all," he said. "But understand, those are not reasons to vote no on this budget."

He said people have told him they plan to vote no to send a message to the board that they are not happy with salaries and board members' conduct.

"Well, you can do that, but understand if this budget goes down, we'll come back here in a few weeks and reduce things that affect education," he said. "We can't cut salaries; we can't cut benefits; we can't cut debt service. What can we cut? We can reduce personnel, which nobody likes to do, because that increases class size. We would look at technology, the arts, athletics, and all the other areas that are not baked into this budget for reduction."

Mr. Breslin also urged approval of the bus purchase proposition. He said 'Transportation is something the district has a history of doing well.

"We plan ahead for bus purchases," he said. "This is an annual program to replace buses that are coming off-line - 10-year-old buses, some of which have over 200,000 miles on them."

He said the board is hopeful that this is the last year the district will have to put a maintenance proposition out to vote and that future maintenance costs will be built into the operating budget.

"The reason that maintenance proposition is out there is, honestly, . because of some deferred maintenance from prior years that we had to do - we, meaning boards before I was on the board - to get budgets passed," he said. "I'm hopeful the community will understand that and vote for it."

Board vice president Brent Hailpern said he supports the budget and propositions, but won't tell people how to vote. He did, however, urge the public to vote, whichever way they see fit.

"This is the best way you can show your children what democracy is all about," he said.

Mr. Hailpern said he supports the budget because it reduces classes at the high school and includes two exciting new courses, advanced placement environmental science and humanities research.

"Let's be realistic; these are the kinds of courses that get our kids into college now," he said.

While he said he feels the balanced literacy curriculum is far from perfect, it does bring our educational system into the 21st century, because it treats each student as an individual.

He said he supports the bus purchase proposition because "this is prudent, level investment to keep the bus fleet for this huge district and the broader special education buses running. We gain nothing by delay; we only incur greater costs in the future."

He agreed with Mr. Breslin that the maintenance proposition is the result of prior years' deferred maintenance.

"This is where the birds come home to roost," he said. "We've got to fix what we've got to fix."

Mr. Hailpern said that the longrange financial plan known as FACE projected 2005-06 expenditures of $92,927,000, approximately $200,000 more than the final budget. Other savings are the transfer of $550,000 from the fund balance and a $170,000 increase in state aid above what was originally anticipated. All of this revenue will be used to offset taxes, he said.

Board member Donna Walsh said that this year's budget process began a 'year ago after the last vote. She said the board analyzed the results and the feedback it received and sought insight from the community in order to improve the budget process.

"If you followed the budget meetings, you were well aware superintendent Lichtenfeld listened carefully to our community," she said. "His budget proposal was below the predicted growth rate that our long-term expenditure plan noted."

Ms. Walsh said the budget represents and respects the community's core values.

"I've learned throughout my five years on the board that although you view public spending with some skepticism, you are willing to invest in our community's children - in their learning, safety, and well-being."

Board member Bruce Pavalow said his own children have benefited from the quality education offered in Katonah-Lewisboro.

"That all takes money," he said. "So I'm going to support the budget."

Board president Don Scott said he's worked on five budgets and has come to realize that budgets reflect a trend in the district. The district examines transportation, special education, and other aspects of the budget on a rotating basis.

"You can't review every single program every year; it is a process that continues over every three, four,, or five years," he said.

Mr. Scott said the FACE report predicts that this is the last year of difficult budgets, ending a period of four or five years when the board and public had to make some hard choices.

"If you look at the projections, next year will be a significantly better year," he said. "This budget and the last few budgets have dealt with tremendous enrollment increases at the secondary level, and we are at the end of that."