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Bethlehem budget preview: pilot extension cuts planned tax increase but leaves gap to close
Summary
District business staff presented a preliminary $117.5 million spending plan and said a late extension of a major PILOT will reduce but not eliminate a multi-million-dollar gap that still points toward a likely tax levy rise next year.
John McPhillips, presenting on behalf of the business office, gave the board an initial look at the Bethlehem Central School District’s proposed 2025–26 budget, saying the figures were still “in draft form” and likely to change before final adoption.
McPhillips said the district’s preliminary budget shows $117.5 million in expenditures against roughly $111.2 million in projected revenue, producing an initial gap of about $6.3 million that would have required an 8.6% tax levy increase if left unaddressed. He told the board that an unexpected action by the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency earlier the same morning altered that math: the IDA approved another one-year extension of the PILOT agreement for the site now known as GB2 Power New York LLC, keeping roughly $3,476,000 in pilot revenue for the district for 2025–26.
“The initial gap today or before this morning was $6,300,000. That does not include the pilot revenue coming back on,” McPhillips said, adding that with the PILOT included the gap would shrink to about $2.8 million and would translate to a draft tax-levy increase of roughly 2.8% before other…
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