A preliminary report of the 2006-2007 Cooperstown Central School budget shows a proposed increase of 3.8 percent over the current plan, said superintendent Mary Jo McPhail during a board of education meeting earlier this month.

The school's spending would increase $545,541 over the current plan, resulting in a total budget of almost $15 million.

The tax levy would increase by approximately three percent, she said.

McPhail said some of the factors driving the increase are salaries, health benefits, employee retirement benefit contributions and the beginning of the debt service on the voter-approved roof project.

She said it was "extremely atypical" to have the tax levy increase lower than the proposed budget increase. She said this happened because the school would receive more money than anticipated under Governor George Pataki's proposed budget and will also receive more money in state aid for the roofing project than anticipated.

McPhail cautioned against reading into the figures too much as some unknown factors remained.

"It's still pretty much a work in progress," she said Tuesday afternoon. "It always changes from the first preliminary report to the first presentation to the public."

She said the BOCES program costs were not available yet and would probably reflect a slight increase in the numbers. She also said the school would not know what impact staff retirements would have on the budget, as employees have until March 1 to indicate their intentions of retiring.

She said the board has to ascertain whether positions held by retiring staff need to be replaced, a decision which is based largely on enrollment figures.

"We feel good about where the budget is at, at the moment," she said. "I think it's fair to say the board's goal is to adopt a budget that is able to maintain current level of programming yet being responsive to decreases in enrollment. If we can do that at a proposed average tax levy increase of around 3 percent, I think the board would be comfortable with that and we certainly hope the community would be as well."

The board will formally present the budget to the public March 8 at 7:30 p.m. during the board of education's regularly scheduled meeting. There will also be a budget work session March 15 at 5:30 p.m. in the middle/high school cafeteria. Both are open to the public.