Voter Primer: Lakeland and Yorktown School Budget and Trustee Vote

The Yorktown and Lakeland school district will be holding their budget vote and school board trustee elections on Tuesday, May 15. Here's what you need to know before you cast your vote: 

Residents in the will be voting on the  and . 

The proposed 2012-13 plan re-creates this school year’s spending of more than $157 million but promises to maintain, among other things, class sizes and academic, interscholastic and co-curricular programs.

The sprawling —which touches six towns in two counties—would increase its overall property-tax levy by 1.97 percent, coming in under the state’s new tax-cap restrictions. In Yorktown, the tax rate is expected to rise by 2.1 percent.

 to read more about the board's adopted budget.

Click on each hyperlinked name to read the Q&A with the four candidates: , , . and 

Residents will have the last word on the budget and board of education candidates when they vote at the  in Mohegan Lake from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Van Cortlandtville Elementary is located across from the Cortlandt Town Center.

The district budget vote and board of election trustee vote will be held at  from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

The is 1.15 percent, which includes BOCES capital project expenses. This year’s budget has a tax rate increase of 2.31 percent. After receiving an additional $190,000 from the state, the district will give half of it back to its taxpayers; the rest of the $95,000 will be placed into a contingency fund. The school district is $908,000 below the cap allowance.

"Despite the decreases in funding and the increases in mandates and tax certiorari expenses, this budget enables the district to maintain all of its current programs,"  superintendent Dr. Ralph Napolitano said in a note to community members. 

to read more about the board's adopted budget.

Current  board members Jackie Carbone and Christine Montero, , will face no opposition when taxpayers head to the polls. 

Carbone has been on the Yorktown board of education since 2006 and has served as board president since the 2007-2008 school year.  in 2011 to fill the vacated seat by , who resigned after serving on the board for almost six years. Check back with us later today to read the Q&A with the two women.