BAINBRIDGE – Bainbridge-Guilford taxpayers will face an estimated 1.8 percent tax levy increase based on the tentative 2011-12 budget adopted by the school district’s board of education on April 7. The proposed spending plan, which voters will be asked to approve on May 17, totals $16,756,946.

“This is a budget increase of 2.2 percent over the current year,” reported B-G Superintendent Karl Brown.

Brown attributed the increase to a new debt service line related to the district’s recent capital project.

“The amount for this debt service for construction will be completely offset by state building aid and local reserves designated for this purpose,” he explained. “Without this additional budget cost, the total budget appropriations would have represented a decrease from 2010-11.”

B-G was hit hard by Albany’s education cuts, which cost the district $1.65 million in state aid. For a second year in a row, they were forced to make cuts to balance the budget. Last year, those cuts involved both staff and program reductions.

“Many of our reductions were done last year through retirements in positions that were not rehired and elementary positions that were reduced due to enrollment,” Brown said.

Six additional positions will be eliminated this year. They are that of an elementary teacher (reduced due to enrollment), a bus driver (due to consolidating bus runs), 2 support staff (attrition) and 2 coaches.