Budget and trustee elections in Philipstown, Beacon
Voters in the Highlands will go to the polls on Tuesday (May 20) to consider school district budgets for 2025-26 and elect board members. Here’s a rundown.
Beacon
Beacon’s $87.7 million budget proposal includes a 5.09 percent tax-levy increase, just under the maximum allowed for the district by New York State. The levy will generate more than $50 million in property taxes. At $31.6 million — an increase of $572,000 (1.9 percent), state aid makes up the bulk of the remaining revenue. The district expects to spend $2.5 million of its savings in 2025-26, an increase of $500,000 over this year.
Most of the discussion in recent board meetings has revolved around the tax levy, which stands to increase because of new development in Beacon — meaning the “pie” is divided into more pieces through the addition of taxpaying households — and debt service on a $50 million capital project approved last year by voters.
The capital improvements will begin in 2026 and include secure building entrances, creation of cooling centers in schools, air conditioning in up to 50 percent of elementary classrooms, infrastructure upgrades such as roofing, upgrades to the Beacon High School baseball and softball fields and renovations to the theater at the high school.
District officials say that, if approved, the budget will allow them to maintain improvements made in recent years, including smaller elementary class sizes, increased mental health support for students and a full-day pre-K program.
For the first time, the district plans to launch a summer workshop program for incoming high school students and create an in-school mental health clinic at Rombout Middle School. It will also add teachers for elementary students struggling in math and reading and hire a part-time elementary speech instructor.
While the proposed levy increase is more than 5 percent, the addition of new households to the tax rolls means homeowners’ bills may not go up by the same percentage. The district estimates that the owner of a $420,200 home (the median value) in Beacon would see their taxes increase by $240 annually.
Meredith Heuer and Semra Ercin are running unopposed for re-election to the nine-member school board. Heuer will return for her fourth, 3-year term; Ercin is running for her first full term after being elected in 2023 to complete the final two years of a vacated seat. Alena Kush did not file for a second term and her seat will be filled by a newcomer, Catherine Buscemi, the owner of Belfry Historic Consultants, who is also running unopposed.
The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Beacon residents vote at the high school at 101 Matteawan Road; Fishkill and Wappinger residents vote at Glenham Elementary School, 20 Chase Drive.
Haldane
Haldane’s $30.2 million proposal translates to a 2.8 percent tax-levy increase.
Using the state’s tax-cap formula, the district could have asked for a 3.38 levy increase. School board members debated this spring whether to go “to cap” but opted to forgo about $132,000 in revenue after voters last year approved an increase of 6.95 percent over three years to pay for $28.4 million in capital improvements. State aid for 2025-26 will be $4.55 million, an increase of $73,000 (1.6 percent).
The budget includes funding for a science-of-reading curriculum; software to improve student outcomes; a new pre-K program; special education funding for out-of-district placements; increased field trip spending; a softball field dugout; classroom air conditioners to comply with New York state’s maximum temperature requirement; auditorium stage and performing arts equipment; and a transportation system analysis.
The district estimates that taxes on a home valued at $500,000 will rise by $197 annually.
Board members Sean McNall and Ezra Clementson are running unopposed to retain their seats on the five-member school board. Clementson will seek his second, 3-year term and McNall his third term.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Haldane Elementary School, 15 Craigside Drive in Cold Spring.
Garrison
Garrison’s $14.7 million budget proposal, if approved, will add an armed police officer and a school lunch program. Both initiatives are pilots that will be evaluated after the 2025-26 school year.
The proposed tax-levy increase of 3.58 percent is far below the 5.78 percent allowed for the district under the state’s tax-cap formula. To avoid raising the levy further, Garrison administrators propose paying for the pilot programs with $1.4 million in savings. State aid will be $1.23 million, an increase of $51,000 (4.4 percent).
The district plans to hire a Special Patrol Officer, a retired police officer whose role would be limited to security. An SPO is not the same as a School Resource Officer (which Haldane has), who is supplied by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and trained to teach classes on personal safety, cyberbullying and drug awareness. According to the district, the cost for the SPO would be $53,900, compared to $100,000 for an SRO.
Student lunches would be available Monday through Thursday; on Fridays, the school will continue to sell pizza as a fundraiser.
The district estimates that a Philipstown home assessed at $300,250 would see its taxes rise by $306 annually.
Sarah Tormey will run unopposed for her third, 3-year term on the seven-member school board, while Kent Schacht is also running unopposed for his second full term after being elected in 2021 to fill a vacant seat.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the school, 1100 Route 9D.
Lakeland
The Lakeland district, which includes parts of Continental Village in southern Philipstown, has proposed a $196.9 million budget that includes a 1.8 percent tax-levy increase, below the state tax-cap of 2.09 percent. The district will receive $59.4 in state aid, an increase of $4 million (7.3 percent).
There are three incumbents — Adam Kaufman, Marianne DiSalvo Kolesar and Michael Marchese — running unopposed to retain their seats on the nine-member board.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Van Cortlandtville Elementary School, 3100 E. Main St. in Cortlandt.
Joey Asher contributed reporting.
Solar energy on roofs and ground arrays have been around for over 30 years on government and schools around the country. As smart as some folks are, and every year, they get the school budget(s) passed, but they never, ever hold workshops on to reduce the budget, and still get the items they need by offsets: Sponsored no-cost solar energy is one way of reducing electric and gas energy costs at every school. They could do the same with paint, grass, window treatments, HVAC, etc. Imagine if the headline read: “Beacon’s 2026 School Budget, of $26 million only costs $15 million and school taxes are reduced just like the energy costs, by 20 Percent.” That would be a heck of an achievement, and pretty smart.