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PELHAM, N.Y. Pelham and Pelham Manor residents go to the polls Tuesday to vote on the 2012-13 Pelham schools budget and fill two Board of Education slots.
The unanimously adopted $65,560,607 budget features a 2.6 percent tax levy increase and is supported by the four candidates: Paul Prencis, Michael Recca, Madeline Smith and Christine Rosskopf
Before adopting the budget, board members approved the use of an additional $150,000 from the ERS (Employees' Retirement System) pension reserves, bringing the total taken from the pension reserves for the 2012-13 budget to $650,000. That move brought the tax levy increase from 2.88 percent to 2.6 percent.
Smith, Prencis, Rosskopf and Recca are running for two seats and all are seeking election for the first time. Board President Robert Eicher and member Doug Hearle are not seeking re-election.
Smith is a nine-year Pelham resident and the mother of a first-grader at Colonial Elementary as well as a daughter in college who went through the Pelham school system. Her work background is in business.
Prencis has twin boys in first grade at Prospect Hill Elementary School and a third son entering the school in September. He is a mathematics teacher at Eastchester High and middle school.
Rosskopf, a lawyer, is the mother of two Siwanoy Elementary pupils and a member of the Siwanoy PTA as well as its site-based council.
Recca, a lifelong Pelham resident, graduated from Pelham Memorial in 2006 and currently works for Westchester County in the Social Services Department.
The candidates have discussed their views in four debates, including ones on April 26, May 2, and May 9 sponsored by Pelhams League of Women Voters, the Pelham Memorial High School and Middle School PTAs, and the Siwanoy PTA respectively.
Voting for the budget and candidates will take place from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Pelham Memorial High School gymnasium.
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