Vote on Region One budget will be May 3

FALLS VILLAGE — The proposed 2011-12 budget for the Region One School District went through a public hearing Wednesday, April 6, with the only complaint being the difficulty of reading the numbers on the page with the totals.That comment was from Carl Williams of Salisbury. Otherwise, the hearing was mostly Region One Business Manager Sam Herrick going through the budget for an audience of eight people.With the hearing concluded, the Region One Board of Education convened a special meeting and voted unanimously to send the budget to referendum, to be held Tuesday, May 3, with voting at the town halls of the member towns from noon to 8 p.m.The six towns in Region One are Falls Village, Cornwall, Kent, North Canaan, Salisbury and Sharon.The budget proposal is for a total of $14,679,097, and represents an increase of 1.96 percent ($282,793) from the 2010-11 budget. The fiscal year begins July 1.The Region One budget has three component parts: Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Pupil Services (which includes special education), and the Regional School Services Center (aka the Central Office, which employs the regional administrators).The breakdown is: Housatonic, $8,248,940 (up $33,530 or .41 percent); Pupil Services, $5,523,618 (up $244,727, or 4.64 percent) and Regional School Services Center, $906,689 (up $4,536 or .50 percent).