Rockville Centre presents $140.3 million preliminary 2025-26 budget; board hears transport, insurance pressures

Miss Rehak, the district’s budget and finance presenter, on Feb. 26 outlined a proposed 2025–26 budget of $140,289,001.87, a 1.92% increase from 2024–25, and said the district’s planned tax levy of $109,240,000 is within the 2.61% tax cap.

“This meeting now, we’re really starting to talk and delve into our budget process,” Miss Rehak said, introducing the administrative, benefits and capital sections of the proposal. She told the board that the district based its state-aid projection of $20,278,187 on the governor’s budget and that some figures remain subject to change when the Legislature issues its budget run in April.

Board members and staff discussed several large cost pressures. Miss Rehak highlighted health insurance unpredictability and said the budget includes a 10% projected premium increase for half of the fiscal year (beginning Jan. 1), and she noted recent employer-rate volatility over the past five years. She also flagged transportation as a major driver: the proposed transportation budget is $6,409,002.84, an increase of roughly $905,000 (about 16.5% from 2024–25), driven in part by contract CPI adjustments and provider cost increases; she reported that BOCES transportation costs reported an approximately 30% increase from its provider in the most recent year.

Rehak described other revenue and reserve uses: $7,171,000 in other revenue (interest income, pilot payments, Project GREAT and nonresident tuition), a planned applied fund balance of $2,800,000 as a one-time giveback to taxpayers, and $800,000 drawn from ERS/TRS reserves to offset pension costs.

On capital and facilities, Rehak said the district is prioritizing building maintenance and smaller capital projects that preserve aging facilities. Planned items in the $1.8 million transfer to capital include: exterior wall repointing and gym repairs at Riverside; front facade and step repairs at Watson; kindergarten playground replacement and other repairs at Covert; auditorium air conditioning for Hewitt and other targeted HVAC and flooring projects at the middle and high school. She said some equipment purchases (bottle-fill stations, radio replacements, mowers, and other items) are budgeted separately in equipment codes.

Board members asked about options to manage rising transportation and insurance costs. Trustees discussed shared-route arrangements with nearby districts, shifting some career-education transportation from BOCES to the district’s in-district provider to reduce costs (a change Miss Rehak said will save about $200,000 compared with continuing through BOCES), and monitoring cooperative insurance pool pricing (NICER). Miss Rehak noted that some costs will only be known in December when insurers calculate January premium rates and that the district is using reserves and conservative assumptions to manage that uncertainty.

The budget calendar presented to the board lays out remaining steps: a March 1 filing of the tax-cap calculation to the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC), additional public budget presentations in March and April, a preliminary hearing on April 10 and the formal public hearing, and the May 20 budget vote.

Board members complimented the presentation’s level of detail and asked staff to continue exploring cost-management strategies, including route-sharing and alternative procurement options for transportation and insurance.

Votes at a glance: at the close of the meeting the board approved routine agenda items (recorded as a voice vote: motion to approve items G2 through J11 — motion moved, seconded; all present responded “Aye”) and later voted to return to executive session to discuss the employment history of a particular person (motion moved, seconded; voice vote “Aye”).