Monday night at 7 p.m. in the Parsons Government Center new Superintendent of Schools Harvey B. Polansky will unveil his proposed budget for the 2008-09 school year to the public and the Board of Education. Polansky said earlier this week a 5 percent increase is necessary to ensure the same level of current services are maintained from this year to the next.

Also the school system has received some funding cuts from the federal government which should make for an interesting number. The meeting is on for now, but if a foot of snow falls who knows. We'll update this Monday once we know. Also if the meeting is on, we'll post the budget info late Monday here.

Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. will present his budget publicly Feb.1, and this will give residents an indication of whether a tax increase is likely, but it all begins with the school board budget Monday night.