Justin Murphy

@CitizenMurphy

Brockport residents rejected a $78.9 million school budget Tuesday, likely swayed by a protest from the district’s support staff union over its ongoing contract negotiations.

There were 625 votes in favor and 882 against. It failed even though the proposed tax rate was down 1.2 percent from 2015-16.

School employee unions are typically reliable budget backers, but the Brockport Central UPSEU Support Staff, representing 331 employees besides teachers and administrators, broke tradition this year in frustration over negotiations to replace its previous contract, which expired in June 2015.

Upset with the lack of progress, the union took out advertisements urging voters to reject the budget, and apparently the voters heeded the call.

Union leader Al Hansel called it a “bittersweet victory.”

“I don’t know how to feel about it,” he said. “Our end goal is to get a fair contract, but we also want the school to have their budget.”

The district said its budget committee would meet soon to decide what to do next. It can present another budget to voters for approval; if that fails, it will need to enact an austere contingency budget, as West Irondequoit did two years ago.

The union negotiations have gotten stuck on the question of how much the district will contribute toward members' health insurance. The lapsed contract had the district paying 90 percent for members hired before 2008 and 80 percent for those hired later.

Earlier Tuesday, Hansel said those rates represented a concession from the union in acknowledgment of a difficult budget situation.

"We took concessions in the last contract with the understanding that when things got better, they'd take care of us," he said. "Now they're asking for concessions again."

An ad the union took out in the Hamlin-Clarkson Herald last week points in contrast to more generous conditions for administrators, including insurance buyouts and longevity bonuses.

Hansel said he hopes the vote result will make the district more amenable in negotiations.

“I’d hope they’ll be more willing to consider another offer,” he said. “So we’ll see where that goes. It’s going to be wait-and-see.”

JMURPHY7@gannett.com