At a special school board meeting on August 11, the board unanimously approved a reduction plan should the upcoming November 4 levy election fail to meet voter approval. 

The Budget Reduction Task Force (consisting of school board
members, six principals and Director of Finance and Operations Chuck
Klaassen and Controller Tina Burkholder) worked over the summer to revise the second year list of potential budget reductions that was generated and pre-approved before last year's levy election. The 2009-10 reductions has been revised to $1.595 million. The first round of reductions was made for the 2008-09 school year, due to the loss of last year's election, in the amount of $1.825 million.

In a unanimous vote, the Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose school board approved a levy referendum proposal at their August 27 meeting. Voters will consider three levy questions, along with four open school board positions, during the November 6 election. Funds for each levy question are clearly earmarked for the next 10 years, beginning in the 2008-09 school year.

1. Maintain current programs, services and class sizes: $3,239,937 per year
2. Replace and upgrade technology: $655,743 per year
3. Reduce class sizes and add K-8 programs of choice: $590,155 per year

If the dollar amounts of all three questions are combined, the tax impact on a $200,000 home in the district would be $295 per year; that is only about $0.81 per day.