It has been a rough year for residents when it comes to budgets and taxes, starting with the fiasco with the Otsego County budget which hiked the tax levy by more than 20 percent.

Last month, the Cooperstown board of trustees approved a budget which increased the tax rate by a little less than four percent.

Now school district residents are being asked to approve a budget which would raise spending by slightly less than five percent and the tax levy by almost two-and-one-half percent.

CCS district residents are also being asked to approve a $7.2 million capital project, which will impact future taxes when payments begin.

Taxpayers must be starting to wonder when, or where, the upward spiral ends.

In a letter to the editor in this week’s paper, CCS school board president Anthony Scalici, warned residents about what may be coming in future budgets.

``The proposed spending plan includes an infusion of revenue from the district’s fund balance that is not likely to be as large in the future,’’ he wrote.

CCS is in the process of reducing its unexpended fund balance which for years was larger than allowed by law. The extra money is helping to hold down this year’s tax levy increase, but next year if it is not there, it could translate into a much larger tax increase.

School budgets are the only ones which must be approved by the residents who will pay the taxes. And some voters vent their frustrations with all property taxes by voting against school budgets.

We aren’t recommending district residents vote for or against the budget. Each individual can decide for themselves if they are getting value for their tax dollars.

But what we are recommending is holding the board to another statement in Scalici’s letter.

``It is our intention to open a forum during the next school year for the public to be more involved with directing priorities for spending. Issues of what are most important for our young people’s learning and how to maintain these need to be better understood alongside the realities of our area’s changing demographics.’’

It is not the first time the school board has promised to do a better job of engaging the public and in all honesty, most of those previous attempts were lackluster at best.

But the public has an opportunity to be part of the process and send a clear message to the board of education that it has to learn to do more with less. It is the same message that the county board of representatives and the village trustees need to hear.

If Scalici is serious, he should direct school administrators to open that forum with the public soon. There are going to be some tough decisions to make and waiting until next spring is no way to get the job done.

The school election is Tuesday, May 15, from noon to 8 p.m. at the school.