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Lancaster CSD presents $76.6 million draft instructional budget; tax-levy limit calculated at $1.8 million increase
Summary
District administrators presented the second of three 2025-26 budget work sessions, outlining a $76.6 million draft instructional budget (up 6.79%) and the tax-levy limit calculation that produces a potential $1.8 million levy increase (about 2.97%) but remains subject to the 2% cap and carryover rules.
Lancaster Central School District administrators on the second budget work session presented a draft instructional budget of $76,600,000 for 2025-26, a $4,900,000 increase from the prior year (6.79%), and described the district's tax-levy limit calculation that produces a maximum allowable levy increase of roughly $1,800,000 (about 2.97%).
Jamie Phillips, district staff who led the presentation, said the tax-levy limit calculation uses the district's current levy, a district-specific tax base growth factor of 1.0063, the lower of the Consumer Price Index or 2% (this year CPI was 2.95%, so 2% is used), a 1.5% carryover from the prior year (about $957,000) and capital exclusions (about $338,000). Phillips said the calculation is the maximum the district could levy and is not the district's planned levy for 2025-26: “This is not what we plan to levy at this point, this is the calculated calculation of the maximum that we could levy,” she said. The district submitted the calculation to the New York State Comptroller by the March 1 deadline, Phillips added.
Why it matters: the instructional portion is the largest part of the school budget and funds teachers, classroom programs and day-to-day instruction. Administrators said 51% of the draft instructional budget is payroll, 10% is BOCES services and 9% is tuition; the presentation said the draft includes about 718 regular employees (roughly 80% of regular staff are in the instructional budget).
The presentation attributed $2,100,000 of the draft increase to special-education programming, making special education the single largest driver of the proposed increase. Administrators also noted that many instructional expenses are aidable; for example, BOCES services typically return about 50%–60% in aid the following year for many programs, and textbook and excess-cost aid will offset part of special-education costs.
The draft remains preliminary. Administrators said additional revenue and expense decisions between March and May will determine the final levy and budget presented to voters. The board scheduled a regular meeting for March 10, 2025, and a third and final budget work session for April 7, 2025; administrators said the numbers could continue to change before the final budget is adopted.
