Jeanette Wolfberg is reporting for The Columbia Paper at the Hudson Board of Education meeting March 15, district business administrator, Jesse Boehme, presented factors driving the 2022-23 budget proposal, offering an explanation of the district’s anticipated spending during the coming school year. Instruction expenses will increase, Boehme said, because of contract obligations, special education, and additional professional positions. Administration and support expenses will also increase because of contract obligations, an obligatory building condition survey, and higher utility costs. The utility expense will be partly mitigated by solar panels, which supply about 50 percent of the district’s electricity requirements. To offset the anticipated 12 percent increase in transportation costs, school officials are looking at the possibility of combining routes; sharing services with other districts; and, having more community stops replacing some door-to-door services. Boehme said the district can increase the tax levy by as much as 2.93 percent, but Superintendent Lisamarie Spindler has said the increase will be less than the state-mandated maximum. Factors influencing the budget that are as yet unknown include BOCES projections, actual out-of-district placements, contract obligations for aides, actual state aid, and outstanding grant applications. The budget’s final draft is slated for presentation on April 5. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.