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Three Village board previews 2026–27 budget, warns tax cap and rising costs will squeeze programs
Summary
At a Nov. workshop, district finance staff said the tax levy cap, rising health‑insurance and benefit costs, and depleted reserves after the pandemic leave limited room to restore programs without new revenue or cuts. The board asked for itemized costs and options before deciding whether to seek voter approval to exceed the cap.
The Three Village Central School District Board of Education on Wednesday opened a six‑month run of budget planning for the 2026–27 school year, receiving a stark financial outlook from district finance staff that linked the state tax‑levy cap and recent inflation to a shortfall in available revenue.
"So October, November ... the first piece of information that we get for the next year's budget is the employer contribution rate for both retirement systems," said Mister Carlson during the workshop, walking the board through the official calendar for budget actions and the numbers that drive them. He noted the state sets the tax‑levy growth factor used for local limits and that it is capped at 2% or the change in the consumer price index, "whichever is less."
The district reported three key pressures: rising health insurance and retirement costs, a recent surge in inflation that would have raised allowable levies materially absent the cap, and sharply lower reserves after district choices during the pandemic. Carlson summarized the fund balance trajectory: "By June 2019, our total fund balance [was] $24,900,000," he said, and later added that by the most recent June the district's fund balance was "down to $10,100,000." He estimated health insurance would "go up" and pegged a working estimate at about 10 percent.
Board members and the superintendent framed the challenge as a choice among restoring programs, selling or leasing property to generate one‑time revenue, or asking voters to allow a larger levy. Doctor Scanlon listed program priorities many in the district hope to restore — including expanded STEAM staffing, additional guidance counselors and returning IG for fourth grade — but cautioned about the cost. "This is expensive," Scanlon said, adding that bringing those items back "would be a massive increase in it and in the above the tax cap."
Board members repeatedly asked staff for an itemized set of costs and an estimate of how many students each proposed restoration would reach. One member warned that seeking both a bond and voter permission to exceed the cap in the same cycle would be a heavy lift. "If we're expecting our community to support our bond and pierce the cap, that is a lot for our community to do," one board member said.
Carlson told the board the next firm numbers will arrive when health‑insurance rates are set in December and the governor's budget proposal is released in mid‑January. He also reminded the board of the March 1 deadline to submit the district's tax‑levy limit to the comptroller's office, and the April 15 schedule for adopting the budget.
The board took no votes on revenue changes at the workshop and directed staff to return with specific, itemized estimates, impact analysis and options for generating one‑time revenue and preserving core programs.
The district is not alone in confronting the tension between service levels and levy limits; board members urged a public messaging plan if the district decides in coming months to seek voter approval to exceed the cap. The board adjourned the workshop after the discussion and will continue deliberations during the formal budget workshops next spring.
