Voters across New York State hit the polls on Tuesday to determine the fates of school district budgets for 2024-25, open seats on boards of education and in some cases, a range of propositions. Three of the four school districts covered by Hudson Valley One passed their budgets, with only the Saugerties Central School District’s spending plan falling based on the need for a supermajority.
In some cases turnout was significantly down compared to prior years. In the Kingston City School District (KCSD), just 1,724 voted on the budget, compared to 3,263 last year. There are around 34,000 eligible voters in the KCSD.
“I checked with the polling places several times during the day and I was really surprised how low the numbers were,” said KCSD Superintendent Paul Padalino, who posited that the budget might not have been controversial enough to draw higher numbers. “The ‘no’ voters usually turn up, but when the ‘yes’ votes don’t, that’s when you run into problems.”
In the Onteora Central School District (OCSD), 1,260 voted on this year’s budget, compared to 1,826 a year ago; and in the New Paltz Central School District (NPCSD), 1,060 voted on the budget this year, compared to 1,286 last year.
The Saugerties Central School District (SCSD) was the only district that saw an increase with 1.613 turning up this year compared to 1,350 last year. There was actually one more “yes” vote this year — 934, compared to 933 — but the “no” votes rose by more than 200.
Kingston City School District
In unofficial results, voters approved the KCSD’s $231,562,000 budget for the 2024-25 school year by a margin of 1,201-523. The spending plan came with a proposed tax levy of $117,595,198, an increase of 3.26 percent over the 2023-24 budget. That increase is at the state mandated limit for the district, which means the budget needed only to pass by a simple majority to succeed.
“I think it’s just one of those things that just energizes even more to know that you have to community behind you,” said superintendent Paul Padalino. “While there’s always bumps in the road, and there’s always people who aren’t 100 percent happy, the overall direction of the district is what the community wants. It kind of makes you want to get up and work tomorrow.”
Also passing by significant margins were a pair of propositions.
The first, the establishment of a reserve fund of up to $5 million from budget fund balances and other reserves to offset the taxpayers’ portion of large capital projects over the next two years, passed by a margin of 1,224-473.
The second proposition was the five-year renewal of a lease for a 28,000 square foot warehouse at 918 Ulster Avenue in the Town of Ulster, which passed 1,301-400. The district has used the space as its maintenance headquarters and central receiving facility for over 20 years and renews its lease every five years. The original lease was approved in 2003 for around $100,000 per year; the new lease would be $10,700 per 30-day-month, totaling roughly $130,540 per year.
In the district’s school board elections, Marystephanie Corsones finished with a comfortable lead in unofficial results, earning 1,304 votes. Anthony Fitzpatrick’s 1,034 votes are also likely to hold. As of press time, former trustee Herb Lamb had 868 votes for the final open seat, with Scott Denny just 19 votes behind at 849. Padalino said there were around 150 affidavit and absentee ballots still to be counted.
Saugerties Central School District
The SCSD saw their $75,173,678 budget proposal for the 2024-25 school year fall by a margin of 934-679, with approval by 57.9 percent of voters just shy of the 60 percent or greater needed to pass. The district needed approval by a supermajority of voters, as the district sought a tax levy increase greater than their 3.62 increase limit presented by the state; the budget proposal came with a tax levy increase of 4.91 percent.
School officials noted that passing a budget with a state limited 3.62 percent tax levy increase would equal $4,713 for a home assessed at $300,000, and a 4.91 percent tax levy increase would equal $4,770 for the same home. But it was not enough to get the budget proposal across the finish line, and there did not appear to be enough affidavit votes outstanding to make up the difference.
“We were seeking approval to go above the tax levy limit in order to maintain the educational experiences and supports we want our Sawyers to have,” said superintendent Dan Erceg. “Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in achieving a 60 percent supermajority this evening. We will continue to move forward, even with this setback, because our students deserve it. We will be discussing options with the board of education at the board meeting next week.”
In the district’s school board elections, challenger Michael Meyer earned the most votes with 908, while former trustee Katie Emerson-Hoss picked up 888, and challenger Sakinah Irizarry 734. With just three open seats, challenger Marlene Anderson-Butler (683 votes) and current board president Robert Thomann (661 votes) were left on the outside looking in.
New Paltz Central School District
The NPCSD presented voters with a proposed $73,520,671 spending plan, an increase of $2.092 million over the current school year’s budget. That budget passed by a margin of 867-193.
The district’s plan includes the use of $2.315 million of the district’s fund balance to offset revenue shortfalls, as well as reductions totaling $1,875,968. Those reductions preserve programs while eliminating over a dozen positions, more than half of those through attrition.
“For the budget, it was a tough budget process and required some cuts,” said superintendent Stephen Gratto. “They were not fun to do, but they were necessary and we appreciate the fact that the community understood that and supported us. We appreciate their support.”
By a margin of 938-121, voters also approved a capital project resolution for the spending of up to $2 million from the district’s fund balance, $1.5 million of which would come from the retirement reserve, and the remaining $500,000 from the workman’s compensation reserve.
The facilities project will replace the elevator in New Paltz High School and middle school, replace existing fire alarms in the high school and both Duzine and Lenape elementary schools to meet state code, and the possibility of addressing other high priority items identified in the district’s building conditions survey, including original equipment, machinery, and other ancillary costs.
“The good thing about that capital project, which is somewhat unusual, is that we already have money for it in our reserves,” Gratto said.
In the board of education race, incumbent Glenn LaPolt cruised to reelection with 829 votes. Five others fought for the remaining three open seats, with Edwin Justin Seweryn earning 584 votes, Olivia Treubig 576 votes, incumbent Jason Clark 567 votes, Jane Farrell 541 votes and Christopher Bravo 438 votes.
Onteora Central School District
By a margin of 973-287, voters in the OCSD approved a $62,325,550 budget for 2024-25, an increase of a little over $1 million, or 1.64 percent, over the current budget. The spending plan came with a 3 percent tax levy increase of around $1.48 million.
In addition to their budget proposal, the district also sought approval for a proposition to authorize the board of education to spend a maximum of $1.95 million from the 2021 and 2023 capital reserve funds to cover any additional costs, if needed, for ongoing facilities projects. That proposition passed 993-266. Planned projects include the Onteora High School generator project; the Phoenicia/Woodstock exterior door project; and the Classroom Renovation Phase III project, which includes districtwide classroom and gymnasium updates, roof repair, a security vestibule and canopy at the high school and middle school campus, and a new serving line in the high school and middle school cafeteria.
Voters also had their say in school board elections, with incumbent board president Cynthia “Cindy” Bishop picking up 711 votes. Also earning a seat on the board was challenger Eric “Rick” Knutsen, with 646 votes. Two other challengers vied for the remaining seat, with Coryn Nadeau in the lead as of press time with 572 votes. Jillian Kahn Urrutia trailed Nadeau with 565 votes as of press time.
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