CHENANGO COUNTY – Though schools throughout Chenango County will see an increase in state aid, district superintendents report that it’s not as big as originally expected.

School districts in Chenango County have seen steady rises in aid through the years. This year, county-wide, school aid will total $101,550,831, an increase of $9,020,724 from last year’s total of $92,530,107.

Norwich Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan said state aid numbers are better than last year, but based on the original proposal by former Governor Eliot Spitzer in January, the sums released Wednesday are far lower than expected.

Original state proposals act as a “base” for districts to begin calculating their budgets by, he said. “I have never seen anything like this happen before,” he said. “This is unheard of.”

In a board meeting held Tuesday, Norwich school board members debated eliminating programming to offer a zero percent tax increase. Now, with their state aid funding coming in roughly $100,000 less than anticipated, the board must go back and look at additional items to eliminate.

In Greene, where aid came in $198,950 less than what was originally thought, District Superintendent Gary Smith said he was given no indication that the numbers would change that much.

“Here we are on the eve of adopting a budget and now we have to go back in and see what we can do differently,” he said. Although Smith is grateful state aid continues to rise, he wishes there had been a warning.

Both superintendents say they plan to meet with their budget committees and tentatively plan to adopt budgets on schedule April 21.

State aid totals for the 2008-09 school year are as follows: