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Syosset officials present 2023–24 budget with 2.99% tax levy increase, 6.49% spending rise
Summary
District administrators told the Board of Education the proposed 2023–24 budget would preserve programs, add two social workers and fund facility and technology upgrades; the spending plan rises 6.49% while the tax levy would increase 2.99. The public budget vote is May 16.
The Syosset Central School District presented a proposed $23,24 budget for 2023–24 that increases overall spending by 6.49% while increasing the district tax levy by 2.99%, district officials told the Board of Education on May 8.
At a budget hearing, Doctor Ruffo, a district staff member who presented the spending plan, said the budget is designed to sustain all existing programs while responding to recent enrollment growth and inflationary pressures. The plan includes investments in facilities and technology and programmatic additions, including two full-time social workers to place a social worker in every building.
District administrators said the increase in spending is driven largely by benefits and staffing costs: roughly 50% of the budget increase is attributable to benefit cost inflation (health insurance and pension), about 28% to staffing and contractual adjustments, transportation costs rose by about $1.7 million (about 10% of the increase), and athletics and co-curriculars account for about 5% of the rise. The district reported a 2.99% tax-levy increase is about $180,000 below the district’s calculated tax-cap limit of 3.07%.
The proposal relies on a mix of revenue sources to narrow the levy impact, including an $8.3 million increase in state aid (about a 3.3% rise) and an approximately $10.3 million increase in non-levy revenues the district identified. Administrators said they will also use restricted reserves and an appropriated fund balance to help offset pressures; the Citizens Finance Committee reported a planned use of restricted reserves of $5,885,023 and an appropriated fund-balance target of $2,225,000 for the 2023–24 budget.
Program highlights in the presentation included expanded elementary classroom libraries, a shift in math instruction toward a workshop model, updated science curricula with hands-on experiments, expanded robotics and business programming at the high school, new AP and dual-enrollment offerings and investments in adaptive technology and Chromebook replacement cycles. The budget includes specific facility work such as masonry repairs, repaving, dust collection system upgrades for shop rooms, and continued roof work, including a planned project at South Grove.
Administrators noted the district will use smart bond funding to support Promethean board replacements and other technology upgrades, and said some capital work may qualify for building aid reimbursement from the State Education Department; the district reported an updated building-aid ratio of 41.9%.
Board members asked for additional, longitudinal data tying early-grade foundational literacy and assessment information to the district’s gains at the high school level and for regular facilities status updates. Amanda Barney, the k–12 coordinator of English language arts, described use of the NWEA computer-adaptive assessment to identify individual learning needs and guide interventions, and administrators said they will return with comparative and longitudinal data.
The district reminded residents that detailed budget information is available on the district website and that the district’s budget vote is scheduled for May 16, 2023.
Votes at a glance: the meeting included routine consent and business votes (minutes, treasurer’s report, personnel appointments, special-education recommendations, contracts, grants and donations) that the board approved by voice vote; individual tallies were not recorded in the transcript.
