On Thursday, January 16, the New Paltz Central School District (NPCSD) will ask voters to decide the fate of a three-tiered capital project which could cost between $17.13 million and $48.46 million. Critically, district officials aren’t pushing for approval, but rather to ensure local residents have all the facts before heading to the polls.
“People should vote the way they feel what is best for them and their children and their homes and they should make the best choice they can,” said superintendent Stephen Gratto in an interview last week with Hudson Valley One. “I’m not trying to convince, and the (school) board is not trying to convince anybody of anything. We’re just trying to get the facts out there as clearly as we can.”
If you live within the NPCSD, by the time you read this, district officials are hoping you’ve received a newsletter about the project. They’ll have also held numerous project information sessions at the Gardiner Library, Elting Library, Rotary Club, Water Street Market and Jewish Community Center. Each meeting of the Board of Education has included information about the capital project in one form or another, with many members of the public seemingly representing full-throated support and skepticism, the latter often focusing on economic concerns. Gratto said the school board and district officials have listened to them all.
In fact, the superintendent added, many of the facets of the capital proposal, particularly the second and third propositions, were the result of extensive surveys and conversations with members of the community. The first proposition is comprised of safety and energy upgrades, and repairs, and are deemed critical by the district. Neither of the other propositions will pass if the first doesn’t.
“Proposition one is our must-have items,” Gratto said. “These are things we need to have for safety purposes and for efficiency and to be able to function properly and that is why Proposition #1 has to pass for two and three to pass.”
Proposition #1 comes in at $17,130,073, rising to $22,950,601 including principal and interest on a 14-year bond at approximately 3.50 percent. 97 percent of everything in Proposition #1 can be covered by state aid, and with the current reimbursement formula for the district, that amounts to an estimated $13,781,765. According to the district, the total cost to taxpayers on the first proposal is $9,168,836, a 1.16 percent tax levy increase.
Should Proposition #2 also pass, that would increase the cost to $29,241,065, and up to $39,172,633 including principal and interest. This proposition focuses on improvements to athletic facilities, audio-video upgrades and adding air-conditioning to large group spaces. The items in both Proposition #1 and Proposition #2 are 83.77 percent covered by state aid, which would amount to $20,317,316. The total cost to taxpayers would be an estimated $18,855,317, a 2.39 percent tax levy increase.
Proposition #3 includes the building of an aquatics center on the New Paltz High School campus. Combined with Proposition #1, the cost would be $36,349,273, rising to $55,212,073 including principal and interest on a 19-year bond at approximately 4.00 percent. In this scenario, 50.75 percent of the items are coverable by state aid, totaling roughly $15,432,732. The cost to taxpayers would be $39,773,341, a tax levy increase of 3.96 percent.
Should all three propositions pass, the cost would be $48,460,265, or $73,619,876 including principal and interest on a 19-year bond at around 4.00 percent. State building aid would cover around 54.33 percent of the total project, an estimated reimbursement of $21,968,283. The total cost to taxpayers should all propositions pass would be $51,651,593, a tax levy increase of 5.15 percent.
Supporters of the aquatic center proposal have included parents of current students who’ve had their high school swim team careers upended by extra travel, closed practice pools and missed meets they were unprepared for. For most of them, the aquatic center wouldn’t be finished in time for them to use it. But they’ve asked that future Huguenots not face the same fate. Some have noted the potential benefits to the community at large, while others pointed to the potential for an aquatic center to generate revenue by hosting meets and other organized events.
Gratto said that support was also heard for the items in propositions #2 and #3 during the planning stages.
“The (school) board and architects listened to the community and they made the best decisions that they could make,” he said. “Proposition #2 and Proposition #3 came more from community input, at least those community members who came to the board meetings and wrote emails who felt that we needed to have in the district to support our students.
In a December 29, 2024 letter to the community, Gratto said he understood concerns about the cost of the capital project, and that preparations for the 2025-26 budget will also be difficult.
“There is never a good time to do a capital project because they are always expensive,” Gratto said in the letter. “However, voters need to realize that, as with their own homes, taking good care of facilities is very important because if proper maintenance is not done now, it will just cost more to fix things later.”
He added that making those repairs and upgrades as part of a capital project rather than through the operating budget makes fiscal sense, as the latter option doesn’t qualify for state aid. The district’s current state aid figure reimburses over 60 percent of eligible project costs.
During meetings of the Board of Education, district officials have bristled at the accusation that they’re not getting information out while also promising to do an even better job. Last week, Gratto said he wanted the public to be educated on what they’re voting for or against. He also acknowledged that it’s easier to reach some members of the community than others.
“One of the problems that we’ve had is contacting those were not associated with the school district,” he said. “I’ve sent out a lot of community information but it doesn’t get to everybody, so we’ve tried to increase our database of emails of community members.”
The more people they reach, Gratto said, the better the results at the polls will represent the community.
“This is what we’re putting forth, here are all the facts,” he said. “Here’s the cost. Here’s what you get for your money. Here’s the state aid you get on it. We believe everybody should follow the Democratic process and make the best decisions they can.”
For more information on the NPCSD capital project, visit: h.
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