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Starpoint budget presentation: tax cap baseline, capital project impact and loss of two PILOT revenues
Summary
Business officials presented the 2025‑26 budget outlook, including a 3.38% baseline tax‑cap number, a 2.27% previously approved capital project tax impact and the loss of two PILOT revenues totaling about $421,000 after properties sold to H5 Data Centers.
The Starpoint Central School District on Feb. 1 received a budget presentation that outlined the district’s 2025‑26 tax‑cap picture, anticipated revenue changes and several departmental cost drivers.
Andrew (last name not specified), presenting the budget overview, said the district’s baseline tax‑cap number for 2025‑26 is 3.38 percent under the state formula. He said the voter‑approved capital project will create an additional tax impact of about 2.27 percent beginning in 2025‑26 as planned. The presenter said the district is also projecting the loss of roughly $421,000 in PILOT (payment‑in‑lieu‑of‑taxes) revenue after two properties previously under Yahoo pilot agreements sold to H5 Data Centers; the sales terminate the pilot arrangements and put those properties back on the full tax rolls.
Andrew said that while losing the pilot revenue increases the levy requirement in the formula, the newly assessed H5 properties add roughly $50–57 million of assessment to the town tax rolls, which the presenter said would lower the tax rate by an estimated $0.26 per $1,000 — a change the presenter characterized as “not increasing taxes for residents” because the added assessed value spreads the levy across a larger base. Presenters said H5 could seek a new pilot agreement in the future, but they did not expect that to affect the next school budget.
The presentation included line‑item notes: central office costs up about $36,000 (5 percent) for legal, paper/postage and audit services; athletics increases tied to officials’ contract escalators and trainer contract renewal (about $19,000); field‑trip budgets up roughly $6,600, funded from building allocations; and an expected small increase in utilities driven by per‑unit price changes despite reduced usage. Andrew said the district will use approximately $750,000 in reserves to offset 2025‑26 capital project impacts.
Special‑education private placement tuition was projected at 31 placements at an average cost of about $56,000 (up from about $53,000). Transportation contract escalators and increased postseason athletics travel were cited as line‑item drivers as well.
Board members asked clarifying questions about field‑trip allocations, staffing and utility forecasts. No adoption vote occurred at the meeting; the presentation was informational ahead of later budget votes.
