Low turnout, misinformation help drive Rush-Henrietta budget defeat

The unsuccessful budget vote in Rush-Henrietta Tuesday coincided with one of the lowest voter turnout marks in the district in a decade, part of a trend across Monroe County.

There were 719 yes votes and 734 no votes in Rush-Henrietta Tuesday, a total of 1,453 and a losing margin of 15 votes. It was the first time fewer than 1,500 people voted since 2019.

"I think the community may have gotten a bit complacent," School Board President Scott Adair said.

The district will have a second chance on June 18. It can either put forth the same budget proposal again and hope for a better result with higher turnout, or it can trim from its current proposal in an attempt to earn more support.

Misinformation about massive raise for superintendent

There was a great deal of social media discussion in Henrietta regarding a purported 83% raise for Superintendent Barbara Mullen. That was a misunderstanding of the budget document: the overall chief school administrator budget line increased by that much because another administrator's salary was moved there in a bookkeeping change.

Mullen's salary is set in her contract and will be $227,000 in 2024-25, a raise of 2.75%.

"We tried to communicate the answers as well as possible, but the results indicate we didn't do a good enough job," Adair said.

Mullen's contract also includes provision for up to $26,000 for moving expenses as she relocates to the district, including paying her rent for up to three months, a clause that led to some concerns over administrative bloat.

Voter turnout down across Monroe County

Voter turnout has been trending downward across Monroe County, in particular since 2020. In that year, elections came a few months after the onset of COVID-19 and were conducted via mail, greatly increasing turnout.

All but three local districts had fewer voters in 2024 than in 2023. Some of that, including in Rush-Henrietta, can be attributed to uncontested school board races, which remove a reason for people to vote.

"Voter turnout has always been down when it comes to school board and budget elections," Monroe County School Boards Association Executive Director Amy Thomas said. "If the vote is that small of a margin (as in Rush-Henrietta), I don’t think the voters are realizing the impact. If they have to go to a contingency budget, what programs could be cut as a result of that?"

A Monroe County district has not been forced to adopt a contingency budget, which restricts almost any year-over-year increase, since West Irondequoit in 2014. In that case unlike in Rush-Henrietta, the district was seeking to override the state property tax cap and so needed 60% voter approval.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Low turnout, misinformation help drive Rush-Henrietta budget defeat