Riverhead board adopts $211.4 million budget, approves energy performance contract and elementary kitchen projects

Riverhead Central School District trustees voted April 9 to adopt a $211,434,500 budget for the 2025–26 school year and approved an energy performance contract and two elementary school kitchen projects that district officials said will not raise the local tax rate.

The budget vote and contract approvals came at the district’s regular Board of Education meeting after a presentation from district officials and H2M architects on an energy performance contract, and a review of proposed kitchen renovations at Riley Avenue and Phillips Avenue Elementary Schools.

District business staff presented the budget as a $9.9 million (4.95%) increase over the current year. Officials said the package assumes about $5 million in state aid but that final state aid numbers were not available; state aid figures for the next fiscal year were still pending at the time of the meeting. The district reported a planned property tax levy increase of about $2.3 million, which staff said is within a 2.16% property tax cap.

Dr. Cardesano, who led the budget presentation, said the increase is “instructionally based,” with roughly $7.7 million directed to staffing and student programs. He also provided line-item figures used in the presentation: salaries of about $88 million and employee benefits of roughly $44 million, and noted student transportation costs of about $5.6 million. The board was told the district reduced other expenses by about $800,000 to keep the budget inside the cap.

The board also approved two capital propositions for May ballot placement to renovate school kitchens. The work — described in the presentation as extending student service lines, redesigning storage, installing walk‑in refrigeration and freezer units and modifying staff prep areas — was estimated at about $1.8 million. District officials said the kitchen work would be funded from the cafeteria reserve and cafeteria fund balance so it would have no tax-rate impact.

On the energy work, H2M engineer Mike Lanter reviewed the district’s EPC procurement process and summarized four bids received from energy service companies. Proposal totals for potential measures ranged from about $21 million to $31.5 million. H2M recommended Renew Energy Solutions after scoring proposals on technical approach, interview results and alignment with district priorities such as lighting upgrades, boiler and HVAC replacements, weatherization and photovoltaic arrays. The presentation said the district could reach net‑zero energy use if proposed photovoltaic systems are included and that the contract includes a measurement-and‑verification period to confirm guaranteed savings.

Summarizing the recommendation, a district presenter said: “What this means is that we’re going to do $28,000,000 worth of work at no cost to the taxpayer,” and described anticipated savings and avoided future bonding needs.

Board members approved the EPC and the kitchen projects at the April 9 meeting. Presenters noted the EPC and the capital work still require approval by the State Education Department (SED) before construction may begin; the EPC timeline presented to the board included submitting plans to SED by Aug. 15 and a construction start target of Dec. 1, 2025.

Votes at a glance - Motion to return the meeting to open…