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Notice of 2020 Public Hearing, Annual Meeting, Budget Vote & Election | Boquet Valley Central School District
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Notice of 2020 Public Hearing, Annual Meeting, Budget Vote & Election

May 12, 2020 | district

Legal Notice Budget Vote & Election 2020 – pdf – opens in a new tab

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING, ANNUAL MEETING, BUDGET VOTE & ELECTION

Boquet Valley Central School District

District Office Lake View Campus 25 Sisco Street, Westport, NY 12993

(REVISED 5.11.20)

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to the Governor of the State of New York’s Executive Order 202.26 (hereinafter, “Executive Order”), a public hearing of the qualified voters of the Boquet Valley Central School District, Towns of Westport & Elizabethtown, County of Essex, New York, will be held remotely on June 2, 2020 at 6:00 PM, prevailing time, for the transaction of business as authorized by the Education Law, including the following items:

  1. To present to the voters a detailed statement (proposed budget) of the amount of money which will be required for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
  2. To discuss all the items hereinafter set forth to be voted upon by absentee ballot, pursuant to Executive Order 202.26, for the Budget Vote and Election to be held on Tuesday, June 9, 2020.
  3. To transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting pursuant to Education Law of the State of New York and acts amendatory thereto.

A copy of the proposed budget shall be made available, upon request, to residents of the school district beginning May 26, 2020 on the District’s website at boquetvalleycsd.org.  While Education Law Section 1716(2) requires the budget also be made available at school district offices, any public library/free association library within the district and the polling place, this year that will not be possible due to the Executive Order and the prevalence of the COVID-19 virus and potential for spread through personal interaction.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to Executive Order 202.26, the budget vote and election of Board of Education members of the Boquet Valley Central School District, Towns of Westport & Elizabethtown, County of Essex, New York, will be held on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. The Executive Order directs that the budget vote and election be conducted by an absentee ballot process in lieu of in-person voting.  Therefore, there will be no voting at the polls for this year’s annual budget vote and election due to the prevalence of the COVID-19 virus and potential for spread through personal interaction. The District will mail absentee ballots with a postage paid return envelope to qualified voters.  In order to be counted, absentee ballots must be received in the office of the clerk by 5:00 pm on June 9, 2020. Thus, every qualified voter shall vote by absentee ballot on the following items:

  1. To adopt the annual budget of the School District for the fiscal year 2020-2021 and to authorize the requisite portion thereof to be raised by taxation on the taxable property of the District.
  2. To elect two (2) members to the Board of Education for three (3) year terms commencing July 1, 2020 and expiring on June 30, 2023 to succeed Dina Garvey and Sarah Kullman whose terms expire on June 30, 2020.
  3. Shall the Board of Education of the Boquet Valley Central School District be authorized to appropriate and expend in the 2020-2021 fiscal year of said District $2,100 from the existing Transportation and Maintenance Equipment Capital Reserve Fund established by a proposition approved by the qualified voters of the Westport Central School District on February 7, 2017, for the purpose of purchasing one salt/sand spreader at a maximum cost of $2,100, and one aluminum trailer at a maximum cost of $4,200, for a total aggregate maximum cost of $6,300?
  4. Shall the Board of Education of the Boquet Valley Central School District be authorized to appropriate and expend in the 2020-2021 fiscal year of said District $139,000 from the existing Transportation and Maintenance Equipment Capital Reserve Fund established by a proposition approved by the qualified voters of the Elizabethtown-Lewis Central School District on May 20, 2014, for the purpose of purchasing one 65 passenger school bus at a maximum cost of $111,000, and one passenger van at a maximum cost of $28,000, for a total aggregate maximum cost of $139,000?

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a copy of the statement of the amount of money which will be required to fund the School District’s budget for 2020-2021 may be obtained by any resident in the District beginning on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, on the District’s website at www.boquetvalleycsd.org.  (Due to the Governor’s closure orders, the Executive Order and the risk of transmission of COVID-19, the statement will not be available at school district offices, public libraries or the polling place). Pursuant to Chapter 258 of the Laws of 2008, Section 495 was added to the Real Property Tax Law and requires the School District to attach to its proposed budget an exemption report.  Said exemption report, which will also become part of the final budget, will show how much of the total assessed value of the final assessment roll used in the budgetary process is exempt from taxation, list every type of exemption granted by statutory authority, and show the cumulative impact of each type of exemption, the cumulative amount expected to be received as payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) and the cumulative impact of all exemptions granted.  In addition, said exemption report shall be posted on any bulletin board maintained by the District for public notices and on any website maintained by the District.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that pursuant to Executive Order 202.26, petitions nominating candidates for the office of member of the Board of Education shall be filed with and received by the District Clerk at Lake View Campus 25 Sisco Street Westport, NY 12993, not later than Monday, May 11, 2020 at 5:00 p.m., prevailing time.  The petition may be filed by scanning the petition and emailing it to the District Clerk at jatwell@boquetvalleycsd.org, or delivering the petition and placing it in a secure lock box that will be available at the office of the District Clerk at Lake View Campus 25 Sisco Street Westport, NY 12993 (outside of the doors to the Main Office) between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.  The petition must be received by the District Clerk no later than Monday, May 11, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.  Each petition shall be directed to the Clerk of the School District and shall state the name and residence of the candidate.  Vacancies on the Board of Education are not considered separate, specific offices; candidates run at large.  As per Executive Order 202.26, there is no minimum number of signatures required on the petition for the June 9, 2020 Budget Vote and Election.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that military voters who are qualified voters of the Boquet Valley Central School District, may request an application for a military ballot from the District Clerk by mail to District Office Lake View Campus 25 Sisco Street Westport, NY 12993, by email to jatwell@boquetvalleycsd.org, or fax sent to 518-962-4571.   In such request, the military voter may indicate their preference for receiving the application by mail, fax or email. A military voter must return the original military ballot application by mail to the office of the District Clerk at Lake View Campus 25 Sisco Street Westport, NY 12993.  In order for a military voter to be issued a military ballot, a valid military ballot application must be received in the office of the District Clerk no later than 5:00 P.M., on May 14, 2020. Military ballot applications received in accordance with the foregoing will be processed in the same manner as a non-military ballot application under Section 2018-b of the Education Law.  The application for military ballot may include the military voter’s preference for receipt of the military ballot by mail, fax, or email.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, a military voter’s original military ballot must be returned by mail to the office of the District Clerk at Lake View Campus 25 Sisco Street Westport, NY 12993.  Military ballots shall be canvassed if they are received by the District Clerk before 5:00 p.m. on June 9, 2020 showing a cancellation mark of the United States Postal Service or a foreign country’s postal service, or showing a dated endorsement of receipt by another agency of the United States Government; or received not later than 5:00 p.m. on June 9, 2020 and signed and dated by the military voter and one witness thereto, with a date which is ascertained to be not later than the day before the election.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that only qualified voters of the School District shall be entitled to vote at said annual vote and election.  A qualified voter is one who is (1) a citizen of the United States of America, (2) eighteen years of age or older, and (3) a resident within the School District for a period of thirty (30) days preceding the annual vote and election.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that pursuant to a rule adopted by the Board of Education in accordance with §2035 of the Education Law, any referenda or propositions to change the number of Board of Education members, or a bond issue for capital improvements, or any other petition required by law to be stated in the Notice of Annual Meeting and Election must be filed with the District Clerk at Lake View Campus 25 Sisco Street Westport, NY 12993, not later than 5:00 p.m., prevailing time, on Monday, May 11, 2020.  Any other petition, except those petitions required by law to be stated in the Notice of Annual Meeting and Election, must be filed with the District Clerk at the Lake View Campus 25 Sisco Street Westport, NY 12993, no later than 5:00 p.m., prevailing time on Monday, May 11, 2020. All such petitions must be typed or printed in the English language; must be directed to the Clerk of the School District; must be signed by at least 25 qualified voters of the District (representing the greater of 25 or 5% of the number of voters who voted in the previous annual election); and must legibly state the name of each signer. However, the School Board will not entertain any petition to place before the voters any proposition the purpose of which is not within the powers of the voters to determine, which is unlawful or any proposition which fails to include a specific appropriation where the expenditure of monies is required by the proposition, or where other valid reason exists for excluding the proposition from the ballot.

May 11, 2020

Jana Atwell, District Clerk
Boquet Valley Central School District
Town of Westport, County of Essex, New York