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81% of voters approved all three proposals, including the $28,047,000 budget last week, and elected three school board members.  The budget vote was 436 to 103, with even higher voter approval for bus purchases (446-91) and the creation of a capital reserve (441-96).

Three board seats were open, each term a different length due to the resignations of two board members whose families moved out of Lansing.  Aaron Thompson will fill the longest term, having received the highest number of votes (448).  Susan Tabrizi (385) and current Board President Christine Iacobucci (373) will fill the second and third longest terms.


Voters authorized the school board to spend up to $300,000 on two 70-passenger school bus and two 7 to 9 passenger vans.  A $7 million capital reserve was also approved.  That simply creates an account for the district to put money into as it becomes available, usually from unexpended fund balance dollars when a budget is underspent.

While the tax levy to pay for a portion of the budget is slightly higher, the actual budget is slightly lower than the current year's budget.  Complicating predictions of how much tax bills will really be is the general reassessment that was applied to most Lansing homes this year.

As of March Lansing's total assessment (the whole town including the Village of Lansing) was $1,583,959,706, up 4.75% from last year.  In theory, if all home reassessment rises are equal, the assessment would have no impact on actual taxes paid.  But some properties saw dramatic assessment rises this year.  School Business Administrator Mary June King says she can't predict what that will mean in actual dollars.  She says the final tax rate will be calculated based on the most up to date assessment data provided by the Tompkins County office of Assessment at the beginning of July before tax bills are mailed.

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