BEAVER FALLS — Beaver River Central School District's tentative budget for the 2007-08 school year would increase spending by 4.5 percent and the tax levy by 9.1 percent.

Spending in the proposed budget, adopted last month by the Board of Education, is at $16,187,545, up $697,545 from this year's $15,490,000.

The proposed levy, or total to be raised by property taxes, is $4,465,144, up $374,244 from $4,090,900. Final tax rates are unavailable until the town tax rolls are completed in August.

The district expects to receive $9,933,796 in state aid. That's up $502,701, or 5.3 percent, from this year's $9,431,095.

District officials in February asked area state representatives for additional assistance, mainly in light of the January settlement of Adirondack International Speedway's assessment challenge, District Superintendent Leueen Smithling said.

Mrs. Smithling is hopeful that state Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-Rome, will be able to secure funding before the budget vote. "He's very much aware of what our needs are," she said. District officials hope that extra state funding will be forthcoming, allowing them to reduce the levy increase by tax collection time in August.

As part of the settlement between the town of New Bremen and the speedway, which reduced the track's taxable value from $3.23 million to $1.35 million, the school district was ordered to pay $73,116.41 back to Lewis County on 2005, 2006 and 2007 taxes. Since the speedway hadn't paid taxes in those years, the county, which handles collection of delinquent taxes, covered the unpaid amount for the district.

The speedway repayment, last year's $150,000 buyout of former Superintendent Francine R. Shea's contract and higher-than-expected costs for energy and special education were "speed bumps" that cut into district reserves, leaving less available to offset a tax increase, Mrs. Smithling said.

The tentative budget uses $1.5 million from the fund balance, down from $1.55 million in the 2007-08 budget. However, the district's fund balance level has dropped from $539,204 last year to $260,825.

Mrs. Smithling commended district staffers and Board of Education members for reducing a tentative budget that in its initial version showed a tax levy increase of about 20 percent.

"We've spent a lot of time trying to whittle things out of here without hurting our kids," she said, noting all programs will remain intact.

The district expects to save money by eliminating two teaching positions and one aide position through the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services special education program and replacing them by hiring a special education teacher and reassigning a teacher and an aide.

The district will seek voter approval to buy three buses over five years instead of paying for them upfront to reduce 2008-09 expenditures by more than $200,000. The state Education Department, which provides 90 percent reimbursement for bus purchases, also will cover interest and bonding costs, according to district officials.

Salaries for instructional staff and administration are expected to increase by $212,685 to $4.6 million, while salaries for other personnel are to jump $166,365 to nearly $2 million. Fringe benefits are expected to increase by $82,965 to $2.8 million.

Energy costs are projected to increase by $120,000.

The district's annual budget hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. today in the auditorium. The budget and bus proposition vote will be from 1 to 8 p.m. May 20, also in the auditorium.