Part II of Grand Island Central School District budget preview

By Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

Note: Last week’s article about the Grand Island Central School District budget focused on the various expenditures in the proposed 2026-27 financial plan. This week’s article focuses on the prospective estimated revenues. The total recommended proposed school budget is $81,685,805, with $42,976,370 of this number coming from the property tax levy. The district’s tax levy represents 52.6% of the school district’s revenue. State aid, which is estimated, accounts for 32.8% of the school district’s revenue. State aid includes $20,872,791 from state Foundation Aid, $4,148,790 from Building Aid (prior reconstruction projects), and state aid from BOCES expenses at $1,795,156. Other sources of revenue include $4,900,000 from Erie County sales tax revenue (5.99% of the budget), and estimated interest income at $800,000, or 1% of the budget.

As of May 5, the New York state legislators have not passed a budget, which means the Grand Island Central School District’s major state revenue sources for the 2026-27 academic year are estimated. The state budget is now more than a month late.

What is the tax rate, and how are taxes calculated?

“The current tax rate for the 2025-26 was $11.94 per thousand of assessed valuation. The proposed tax rate for the 2026-2027 is increasing to an estimated $12.26 per thousand of assessed valuation,” said Douglas Whelan, interim assistant superintendent for school business and finance. “This is a proposed increase of 32 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, or 2.68%.”

What does this mean for taxpayers?

“Last year, the Town of Grand Island conducted a revaluation of all property assessments to reflect 100% of their current market value,” Whelan explained. “This reassessment changed the average assessed valuation of a house in the Grand Island School District to $397,000.” For that average house, the tax bill for last year was $4,740.18.

“With the proposed tax levy of $12.26 per thousand of assessed valuation, the estimated tax bill for the same assessed value home is estimated to be $4,867.22. This would be approximately $127.04 more in school taxes,” Whelan said.

He explained the proposed tax bill will be reduced by approximately $396 if the homeowner applies for the Basic STAR exemption. Basic STAR lowers a homeowner’s tax bill on a $397,000 assessed value home to $4,471.

For a house assessed at $200,000, the tax bill for the 2025-26 school year was $2,388. The estimated tax bill for 2026-27 will be $2,452, an increase of $64. For a house with the same value that is eligible for the Basic STAR exemption, the tax levy was $1,994 for 2025-26, and the estimated tax levy for 2026-27 will be $2,047, an increase of $53.

What are the next steps if the budget is not passed in the May 19 vote?

If voters defeat the proposed budget, a school district has two options, Whelan said. The board can put the same or revised budget up for a revote, or it can adopt a contingent budget. If voters defeat the proposed budget twice, the district must adopt a contingent budget. Under a contingent budget, the tax levy cannot increase from the previous school year.

Whelan explained there are mandatory budget reductions that will be made under a contingent budget. Certain existing contingent budget requirements remain in effect, which prohibit spending in specific areas, including community use of buildings, elimination of all proposed staffing, and the purchase of new equipment such as buses. Having a contingent budget in place also prevents any member of a bargaining unit, who does not have a contract in place beyond June 30, 2026, from receiving an increase in salary in the 2026-27 school year.

In the proposed 2026-27 school budget, the district budgeted $100,000 under a category called “capital building outlay.” In the current school year, these funds were used to replace classroom floors in Veronica Connor Middle School.

“We chose this state aided capital project because we experienced classroom floors that had shifted and cracked. The floors were considered a safety hazard,” Whelan said.

“Budgeting for a ‘capital outlay’ project is not permissible under a contingent budget,” Whelan noted. “Normal building repairs would be corrected, but it would be at the direct cost to the taxpayers.”

Capital projects, including “capital outlay projects,” are eligible for state building aid funding. Building repairs funding by the district’s operating budget are ineligible for that aid.

Additionally, under a contingent budget, residents who wish to use the school buildings would have to reimburse the district the full cost of such use. Currently, the board does have a fee schedule for residents and groups to use district property, but the fee schedule does not cover the entire cost of using the facilities, Whelan said.

“There are, however, some costs which are difficult to reduce,” he said. They include:

•Transportation fuel

•Utilities

•Building and grounds supply costs

•Special education program costs (tuition and required specialized equipment and supplies)

“One area that the district has reduced is staffing,” Whelan said. “Twelve teachers/teaching assistants announced their retirements effective June 30. The district will only replace six of these positions.

“Ultimately, if the board declares a contingent budget, the district will need to reduce the proposed budget by $1,129,855.”

What was the process that led to the proposed budget increase of 2.98%?

The first draft of the proposed 2026-27 budget was presented to the board on Feb. 2.

“Even though the budget preparation started in November,” Whelan said, “the first budget presentation is sometimes referred to as the start of the ‘budget season.’  The original proposed budget request was $83,660,466, an increase of 5.5%.”

“The board said this is too high,” Whelan said. “The second draft of the proposed budget of $83,835,603 was presented on March 9, and that was 3.17% increase. The board again indicated that they felt the budget was too high and asked for a third reduction to include only necessary required programs. The third proposed budget of $81,685,805 was presented on April 21. This was a 2.98% increase from the previous school year.”

Why are expenses estimated & what unexpected expenses are most likely to occur?

“Some of the tuition costs for special needs students are estimated in the proposed budget. These tuition rates can fluctuate based on the needs of the children. We also don’t know if special needs students will move into the district over the summer or during the school year,” Whelan said, noting the district may also experience unanticipated transportation costs for these students. “In the budget process, we carefully estimate the costs for fuel, utilities and health insurance. There must be flexibility in these budget numbers so that market conditions and personnel health costs can be absorbed during a school year. District legal expenses can be an area that is hard to control. Our best estimates may not cover an unknown lawsuit or new state mandate that occurs after the budget preparation. The budget is a well thought out fiscal plan. It is not an exact science.”

Does the school district spend the entire amount of money budgeted for a school year?

“The district has never spent the approved budget,” Whelan said. “It would be very unwise to spend the entire budget. The primary reason that a school district does not spend their entire budget is the same reason that all of us as reasonable consumers do not spend our entire budgets. There needs to be some funds in case of an emergency that could happen at any time of the year.”

Upcoming budget-related dates:

•Public hearing on the budget 7 p.m. May 11 in the high school’s professional development room.

•Budget vote and Board of Education election: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 19 in the high school gym.