Warwick BOE holds public hearing on proposed budget

The Warwick Valley Central School District Board of Education held a public hearing for residents to listen to and comment on the intended 2026-2027 budget for the school district. Superintendent Dr. David Leach spoke at the meeting, explaining several aspects of the budget and what residents will be able to vote on.

Superintendent Leach explained that while the budget may be the most notable thing being voted on, residents will also be voting on additional propositions. One proposition on the ballot this year is the potential funding of a repair reserve. The intent of the proposition is to use the year-end fund balance to fund the reserve, and the goal would be to fund up to $2 million over 15 years.

“There are times we need to use that repair reserve to make needed repairs and maintenance, particularly the facilities that are not active schools,” stated Leach.

The other additional proposition on the ballot is a proposition to purchase five school buses at a maximum cost of $936,200. According to the informational newsletter on this year’s budget, the district plans to use $364,000 of its bus reserve fund to offset the cost, and of that total cost, $572,954 is expected to be returned to the district as transportation aid.

Voters will also be electing three candidates to the Warwick Board of Education during the May 19 vote. The candidates for this election are Bob Larsen, Dory Masefield (incumbent), John W. Garcia (incumbent), Dr. Melanie Kolacy and Robert Howe (incumbent). On Monday, May 4, the candidates held an open meeting to provide an opportunity for the public to ask them questions. The recording of the discussion will be aired on Tuesday, May 12 and again on the night of Monday, May 18. It will also be available on the website for residents to view.

Proposed budget within accetbale tax cap, superintendent says

This year’s budget is proposed at $123,011,817, which is a 2.58 percent tax levy increase from the previous year. According to the superintendent, that is within the legally acceptable tax cap for the year.

According to the board’s budget newsletter, “The district has kept the annual tax levy increase at or below the state’s allowable tax cap each of the last 14 years and has never exceeded it, reflecting a consistent approach to fiscal and long-term planning.”

According to the Leach, the board still does not know what the actual amount of state aid will be due to the lack of information from Albany on the New York State budget. He also addressed why state aid only makes up 33.1 percent of the proposed revenues for the district.

“What makes that piece of the pie certainly smaller than many of the neighboring communities in the county and throughout the state is the district’s wealth ratio,” stated Leach.

Community asks about rising costs related to global events

One resident questioned why there was a cut to transportation employee salaries listed in the proposed budget, and the board responded that in previous years, they had budgeted for more drivers than they had on staff, so they made a cut to match the amount of employees they had.

Another resident asked if rising oil prices would result in money being taken out of the reserve fund to accommodate for the higher costs. Leach stated that while budgeting, they leave themselves a little bit of flexibility for unexpected costs.

“For this budget, we use estimates that we think reflect what we should anticipate, but then again, we didn’t anticipate a war,” stated the superintendent.

For this year’s vote on May 19, there are three locations where residents can vote in-person on the budget. Those locations are at the Pine Island Fire House, the Dorothy C. Wilson Education Center and Kings Elementary School. According to the Superintendent, they decided on three polling locations as a convenience for residents. The vote will take place from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Residents with questions on the budget can email the board at budgetquestions@wvcds.org.