Locust Valley board adopts $98.29 million 2025–26 budget, advances capital projects from reserves
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Summary
The Locust Valley Central School District board voted unanimously to adopt a $98,289,148 2025–26 budget with a 2.36% tax levy increase and approved a $2.5 million transfer to capital; the district also proposed a $7.3 million withdrawal from its capital reserve to renovate the high-school cafeteria and library (voter approval required).
The Locust Valley Central School District Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt the district’s proposed 2025–26 budget of $98,289,148, a 1.95% increase over the prior year, and set a proposed tax levy increase of 2.36%.
Board presenters told the meeting the budget keeps salaries and benefits as the largest cost drivers (salaries about 49% of the budget; benefits about 23.7%) and reflects reductions in some state aid lines. District staff said two revenue items were forecast to decline under the not-yet-final New York State budget: the transportation-aid ratio (from about 10.2% to 6.5%) and an unspecified expense-based aid, together reducing annual aid by “a little over $200,000,” according to the presenters.
Why it matters: the board said the levy increase was kept small relative to neighboring districts. The adopted budget includes a $2.5 million transfer to capital, of which roughly $2.0 million would fund a new multisport turf field at Baysville Intermediate and about $471,000 would convert a freight elevator at the middle/high school into a passenger elevator for ADA access.
The board also presented a second proposition that would withdraw $7.3 million from the district’s capital reserve to fund two large facility projects: a middle-/high-school multipurpose cafeteria renovation and a library renovation. District officials said those funds are already in reserves and that, if voters approve the proposition, the projects would be paid from savings and would not increase the tax levy; voter approval is required for the withdrawal and construction contracts. The presentation included architectural renderings and a plan to bid elements together where possible to gain price optimization.
District officials explained the rationale for using reserves now: they described uncertainty at the state level (possible changes to aid formulas and scrutiny of large reserve balances) and said using existing capital reserves avoids bonding and avoids a tax increase for the projects. The presenters noted the district’s overall reserves include capital and several other reserve categories and said the decision to use capital reserves follows a conservative approach intended to preserve an appropriate level of unallocated reserves (the presenters referenced the common “4%” guidance for unallocated reserves cited in media and practice).
Board discussion also noted logistics and timing: presenters said the two projects are planned for next summer, contractors appear more available than during the COVID-era backlog, and the administration will manage change orders and any overages transparently, returning to voters if additional transfers are required. The board encouraged community support for both the operating budget (proposition 1) and the capital proposition (proposition 2).
Votes and next steps: the board approved the 2025–26 budget by unanimous voice vote at the meeting; the capital-reserve withdrawal (proposition 2) was presented to voters as a separate proposition requiring voter approval. The district will hold a public budget hearing on May 7 (date announced during the presentation) and will present the capital withdrawal to voters at the budget vote.
Ending: Budget documents shown at the meeting listed a current-year budget of $96.4 million and compared Locust Valley’s proposed levy and budget change to neighboring districts; presenters said Locust Valley’s proposed budget-to-budget increase was the second-lowest among the group surveyed.
