Kingston school officials present early 2025–26 budget snapshot showing $17.2M preliminary shortfall

Assistant superintendent Carmen (staff member) told the Kingston City School District Board of Education on Feb. 5 that the district's earliest, preliminary projection for the 2025'26 budget shows a $17.2 million shortfall based on current revenue estimates and an estimated allowable tax levy.

The presentation outlined revenue drivers, expense pressures and the influence of Governor Kathy Hochul's executive budget proposal. "This is a snapshot," Carmen said, adding the executive budget had been released about a week earlier and that many numbers remain subject to change. She said the district's primary revenue sources are state and federal aid, interest income, PILOT receipts (payments in lieu of taxes), tuition and the property tax levy.

The board heard that state aid in the executive budget would increase under the governor's proposal but that changes to the foundation-aid formula and other factors result in a net state-aid change of roughly $1.9 million for the district in the administration's estimate. Carmen explained that building aid projections shown by the governor differ from the district's internal estimates tied to known debt-service and bid results.

Carmen walked the board through the tax-cap calculation, saying the district's maximum allowable levy for 2025 is about $124.9 million, a $7.2 million increase over the current-year levy and about a 6.17% increase. She cautioned the number is preliminary and will change as capital project bids and other details are finalized.

Board members pressed for detail on specific drivers. Board member Mr. Bridal asked about PILOTs'how pilot revenue is treated in the tax-cap formula. Carmen said the pilot line is treated separately in the state formula and that a December court decision ended one pilot, producing a year-over-year reduction that affects the tax-cap calculation. "The change in pilot revenue is truly the impact that we see in the formula year to year," she said.

The presentation noted expense drivers: salaries and benefits (more than 75% of district spending), transportation across 98 square miles, special-education costs, debt service and operations. Carmen said the district transports more than 5,000 students daily and manages 11 buildings totaling more than 1 million square feet.

Carmen described a rollover-style preliminary budget (rolling forward current programs and projecting salary and debt changes) and said the preliminary total expenditures are about $249.5 million versus preliminary revenues of $232.2 million, yielding the $17.2 million gap. She and Dr. Padalino said additional work is under way with the district's financial advisors and program leaders to refine estimates before adoption.

Dr. Padalino told trustees that some figures had changed very recently and urged board members not to panic: "We've been here before at this time of the year. Many of these numbers have changed in the last four days while Ms. Carbone and I have been working on this." He said staff would return with updated numbers in later budget sessions.

The board asked for a follow-up that will include more granular projections for special-education expense-based aids, BOCES aid estimates and the capital project cash flow tied to awarded bids. Carmen said she would return with more detailed breakdowns in future meetings.

Ending: Board members thanked staff for the clear explanation and asked to see refined numbers as soon as they are available, particularly on state-aid calculations, capital project cash flows and the treatment of PILOT revenues in the tax-cap calculation.