GILBERTSVILLE – The Gilbertsville-Mt. Upton Board of Education has proposed a 1.75 percent increase in the tax levy for the next school year. G-MU cut spending by 2.29 percent compared to last year and is looking at a $576,234 shortfall in aid.

The proposed $8,664,705 budget is $203,139 less than last year’s $8,867,844.

Voters will cast their ballots May 17 from noon to 8 p.m. in the central school’s main lobby.

Superintendent Glenn Hamilton said the district expected federal stimulus aid to “drop off the cliff” as the one-time funds ran out. The school also expected to see a year of reduced state education aid, but had to revise its three-year financial plan as Albany cut aid by 3.28 percent more than expected for the 2011-2012 school year.

Hamilton was critical of how lawmakers made the cuts, saying upstate schools, which tend to have lower property values and a much greater dependency on state aid, are asked to sacrifice the most. Last year about 70 percent of the school’s budget was comprised of aid and in the coming year, that figure will shrink to about 65 percent, according to Hamilton.