Frontier Central presents $111.97 million budget proposal, asks voters to OK bus purchases; contingency would cut $3 million if vote fails

The Frontier Central School District presented its proposed 2025–26 spending plan at a public budget hearing, asking voters to approve Proposition 1 — the district’s authorization to spend about $111.97 million next year — and Proposition 2, a vehicle purchase proposition for buses and facilities vehicles.

District officials said the Proposition 1 total reflects a year-over-year budget increase of about 4.5 percent driven largely by program costs (teachers, curriculum and benefits), with about 75 percent of spending tied to classroom instruction. "Seventy-five percent of what we spend every year is in our teachers' curriculum benefits," the presenter said during the hearing.

The administration told residents the proposed 3.15 percent tax levy rate would raise the local levy by about $101 per $100,000 of assessed value; using the district’s example, an assessed house valued at $250,000 would see roughly a $250 increase on the annual tax bill if the levy is approved.

Proposition 2 seeks voter authorization to buy three replacement buses and two electric vehicles for facilities; the administration said the total cost of those purchases is "just under $600,000." The language for both propositions appears in the voter pamphlet and on the district website, officials said.

Officials also reviewed the state-mandated contingency budget that would take effect if voters reject the propositions. The presenter said state contingency rules would reduce the district’s allowable spending by about $3,000,000, leaving the district with a budget roughly $3 million smaller than the proposed amount. "If the budget doesn't pass on the twentieth, we will have to come back to you ... with a $3,000,000 plan on how we're gonna make up that shortfall in the budget," the presenter said.

The district emphasized there is limited flexibility to find reductions because most spending is in personnel and benefits; the presenter estimated that the $3 million shortfall would be roughly equivalent to 12 to 15 full-time teaching positions, presented as an illustrative calculation.

The public vote on the propositions is scheduled for Tuesday, May 20, with polls open in the district boardroom from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., officials said. Questions from residents at the hearing included requests for clarity on the levy rate; one resident, Kathy Doer, urged the audience to note that the budget growth rate (about 4 percent) is not the same as the tax levy increase (3.15 percent).

The hearing was informational; no final budget decision was taken by the board at the meeting. The administration asked residents to review the full proposition language online and to vote on May 20.