Spending plan, capital project could mean dual tax increases
While the breakdown of state aid, property tax revenue and district funding will not be known until next week, the Beacon City School District has set its tax levy for its 2024-25 budget at $47.68 million. That’s a 3.91 percent increase over what it collected for 2023-24 and would trigger a modest tax bump.
The levy increase is based on Beacon’s tax-base growth factor (one of the highest in Dutchess County), the consumer price index and other factors and does not exceed a state-mandated cap. Voters will consider the proposed budget on May 21.
According to the district, the annual increase for a Beacon resident who owns a home worth $425,000, the median value in Dutchess, would be $88. For Town of Fishkill and Town of Wappinger residents in the district, the estimated increase would be $100 and $106, respectively.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a tentative budget agreement with lawmakers on Monday (April 15); once the plan is finalized, public school districts will know how much state aid they will receive for 2024-25. According to the governor, the budget will include $35.9 billion in school funding, including $24.9 billion in Foundation Aid, which considers factors such as a district’s relative wealth and the number of students it serves.
On Monday, Superintendent Matt Landahl told the Beacon school board that he expects the district will receive about the same amount it did last year, which was $30.8 million.
“Everything that we’re reading is that school districts in the ‘save harmless’ [no decrease] category, which Beacon is, should not be expecting an increase in Foundation Aid,” he said. “That’s been the messaging for the last several weeks.”
Despite flat funding, Landahl said the district plans to maintain small class sizes, full-day pre-K, expanded extracurricular clubs, access to collegiate and advanced coursework, and salary increases and professional development opportunities for employees. A pilot program to support reading instruction for elementary students would also receive funding.
“It may not be a budget where we have a laundry list of things we’re adding next year, but it’s a budget where we’re really proud to be keeping these wonderful things in place that we’ve fought hard to get,” Landahl said.
The district intends to implement a “position-control” policy to determine, case-by-case, whether to replace staff members who resign or retire. The policy isn’t meant to cause panic, the superintendent said, but administrators will look “at every single aspect of the district” in trying to save money through attrition.
Positions funded by federal American Rescue Plan funds will be reviewed, along with contracts, most of which are for services provided by the Dutchess Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).
In addition to the budget and three board seats, the May 21 ballot will include two propositions related to student transportation and one to allow the district to borrow money for a proposed $49 million capital project.
The first proposition would allow the district to purchase a second electric school bus. Voters approved buying one electric bus last year but it has yet to be purchased. The district has received conditional approval from New York State for vouchers providing $257,250 for each bus, which, including a charger, sells for $495,000.
The second proposition would permit the district to spend $485,000 to buy three 72-passenger, gas-powered buses.
(State law requires that school buses purchased after 2027 run on electricity; all 50,000 gas-powered buses in New York must be replaced by 2035.)
The third proposition asks voters to approve an initiative for capital improvements across all six district school buildings. It would include heating, ventilation and energy-efficiency upgrades, new roofs on some buildings, secure visitor entrances and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, among many other repairs.
Many classrooms will receive new flooring, ceilings, lighting, windows and doors, while the stage and theater at Beacon High School will be upgraded and new playground equipment installed at Sargent and Glenham elementaries.
The tennis courts and baseball and softball fields at the high school will be improved and the cafeterias and gymnasiums at the four elementary schools and Rombout Middle School will be air-conditioned to create “cooling centers,” the district said.
The project would come with its own tax increase, estimated at $127 annually for a home assessed at $300,000; $170 for a $400,000 home and $212 for a $500,000 home. Those numbers could decrease if a homeowner has a STAR or Enhanced STAR exemption.
