Port Washington Voters Get New Proposed School Budget

UPDATE 1: Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order extending the deadline for school districts to receive absentee ballots for the school budget vote and Board of Education election. Absentee ballots can be dropped off at school districts through 5 p.m., Tuesday, June 9, or received by mail through June 16.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — Port Washington voters have a new school district budget to choose from when they submit their mail-in ballots next month.

After initially publishing three budget options, a spokeswoman for the district told Patch the information listed on the district's website was outdated. The new proposal does not take into consideration the district’s pre-pandemic plan of adding several staffers and replacing the roof at South Salem Elementary School, as well as sections at John Philip Sousa Elementary School and Paul D. Schreiber High School.

The 2020-21 draft budget includes cuts to contractual codes at all seven schools. The complete roof replacement at South Salem will now be partially replaced and nine permanent substitutes will not be brought back. Moreover, track resurfacing was removed from the budget, as was ongoing asbestos planning and transportation for field trips, among other cuts.

The new budget option voters can choose from is detailed below:

• Budget dollar increase: $2.7 million
• Budget percent increase: 1.66 percent
• Levy dollar increase: $2.8 million (40 percent below the tax cap)
• Levy percent increase: 1.99 percent
• Impact on average home: $255

The levy is the amount of the budget paid for by taxpayers. It is not the total cost of the budget. The district applies all state aid and other sources of revenue and the balance becomes the tax levy.

The Board of Education decides which option to propose to the community June 9. A simple majority vote is needed to pass the budget, meaning 50 percent plus one vote in favor would be needed.

Cuomo has warned that the economic effect of the shutdown imposed to curb the outbreak could mean much less money available for state education aid. The state will be assessing and adjusting its budget several times in the course of 2020. Cuomo's last estimate was that state aid would be 20 percent lower than already promised.

Click here to see more details on the Port Washington Union Free School District proposed budget.

A virtual budget hearing is planned at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 26. Residents can participate by clicking here.

All registered voters who live in the district's boundaries will receive an absentee ballot in the mail with a postage-paid return envelope, the district said. There will be no in-person voting. Ballots must be received by the district no later than 5 p.m. on June 9.