Two’s a charm for the Saugerties Central School District (SCSD), which passed a $77,182,384 budget for the 2024-25 school year less than a month after their first spending proposal fell by just 33 votes.
In the end, the district’s budget passed 1,728-796, a margin of more than 68 percent, well above the majority threshold required for a spending proposal at the state tax cap of 3.62 percent. That total includes both absentee ballots, as well as the count at the single polling place, the Jr. High School gymnasium on Tuesday, June 18.
“My big takeaway is obviously that it passed about 68 percent,” said superintendent Daniel Erceg. “I think it shows our community’s support of what we’re doing for our students. To have, that volume of participants, I think speaks highly about our community coming together. I do hope, obviously, that that kind of participation and civic engagement continues in the future.”
Numbers were up on both sides of the discussion this time around, but there were nearly twice as many “Yes” votes for the revised budget compared to last month: 1,728-940. The “No” votes saw significantly fewer voters turn up, with 796 this week and 690 last month.
Last month, the SCSD saw their $75,173,678 budget proposal closely fail to garner the support of a supermajority of voters it needed to pass. Because the district sought a tax levy increase greater than their 3.62 limit presented by the state, they needed the approval of 60 percent or greater to succeed; the budget proposal came with a tax levy increase of 4.91 percent. After counting affidavit votes and absentee ballots, the results were 940 votes for the budget proposal, and 690 votes against.
This time around, the budget hit the 3.62 percent tax cap, and would pass with a simple majority. It did far better than that.
By passing their revised budget, the SCSD avoided having to automatically adopt a contingency budget, which would only fund contractual expenses, like teachers’ salaries, and items deemed by the school board to be ordinary contingent expenditures such as legal obligations, expenses authorized by statute, and other items necessary to maintain the educational program, safeguard and maintain property and ensure the health and safety of students. It also eliminates free public use of district facilities by the community.
A contingency budget would have required cuts of $2,626,079.
Getting to the revised budget wasn’t painless for the district: Trimming a further $569,061 from the first budget proposal means the district will no longer be able to contribute to a community-based pre-K organization; will lose armed security at the former Mt. Marion Elementary School, where the pre-K program is housed; will no longer have district-sponsored field trips; will cut the modified sports program; will see one full-time school counselor position reduced to part time; and will eliminate one secondary assistant principal, one athletic trainer and three non-mandated teaching assistants who do not serve special education students.
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