School District Budget Votes Today

Voters head to the polls today to decide on school district budgets and school board candidates.

Residents In the Utica School District will vote on a $152 million budget that contains no tax increase. There's also a $9.75 million bond proposal on the ballot that would end the rental of a building on the Parkway and move the district offices to Kernan School.

The polls in Utica will be open from noon to 9:00. Polling times in other local school districts vary.

Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of school board members, 88%, believe voter turnout in school budget votes and school board elections will be at or below previous years.

That's according to a poll by the New York State School Boards Association.

Only 12%  think voter turnout will be higher that usual.

The NYSSBA says the number of votes cast has decreased steadily in each of the three years since the state's tax cap was introduced in 2012.  They say the number of votes has decreased nearly 20% since the first year of the tax cap.