(Submitted Photo)

BAINBRIDGE - The Bainbridge-Guilford Central School District will host its budget hearing tonight, with officials saying approximately $800,000 had to be cut due to a rise in health insurance costs and its capital plan payments.

According to Bainbridge-Guilford Central School District Superintendent Tim Ryan, this was one of the hardest years of budget balancing he’s had to handle so far. Ryan said the budget is balanced at $20,167,516, with an increase of 2.4 percent which remains under the tax cap.

He said that on a property assessed for $100,000, the change would reflect a tax increase by $4 a month, and that those with questions are able to join in on the Zoom based budget meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday night, at https://E2CCB-GST.zoom.us/j/95827219724. He added that in accordance with New York State Executive Order 202.26, qualified voters may vote via absentee ballot only, and absentee ballots will be mailed to qualified voters by the district.

“We started the budget process in December, and this is by far the trickiest budget I've been involved with,” said Ryan. “We removed a lot of equipment, some staff positions, a project, and put the entire budget under a magnifying glass in order to be able to reopen our doors.”