BOCES budget hearing concludes with unanimous approval; community college allocation unchanged

The Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) held a budget hearing and trustees voted unanimously to approve the FY2026 BOCES budget after staff outlined revenue declines tied to assessed valuation and decreased carryover reserves. BOCES staff reported an assessed valuation drop for the service area (from $5.3 billion to $4.8 billion, described as roughly a 10% decline), corresponding declines in mill-derived revenue and carryover reserves for career-technical-education programming. Cash carryover reserved for future career and technical education decreased from about $1.8 million to $1.4 million, a roughly 28% drop, and assessed mill collections for the BOCES fund were projected to fall from $2.6 million to $2.3 million. Staff noted that the college operational support line is governed by a memorandum of understanding established in 1983 and that the total allocation to the college remains $2.5 million in both FY2025 and FY2026. The BOCES budget includes a commitment to operational support and a $158,000 annual grant program that funds career-technical-education teacher requests via a Perkins advisory committee review. The board asked whether there were any public comments; none were offered. The trustees moved, seconded and approved the BOCES budget by unanimous voice vote.