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East Meadow UFSD proposes 3.26% levy, $2 million in capital projects; officials warn cuts if budget fails
Summary
District staff presented a balanced 2025–26 budget that keeps class sizes steady, includes a 3.26% tax levy and $2,000,000 in capital projects, and would require program and staff cuts if a contingency budget becomes necessary after a failed vote.
Ms. Fresenda, the district’s budget presenter, told community members at an East Meadow Union Free School District hearing that the proposed 2025–26 budget would maintain class sizes, expand programs where possible and would not rely on fund balance.
"We will not be using any fund balance to fund the 2526 budget," Ms. Fresenda said during the presentation, noting the district’s revenue assumptions were based on preliminary state figures.
The presenter said fixed cost drivers — salaries and benefits, mandatory insurances, special education services and transportation — account for about $125,000,000 of the district’s baseline obligations. The tax levy calculation for the proposed budget resulted in a 3.26% increase, and the capital plan includes about $2,000,000 in projects split between in‑house work and contracted services.
Board members and staff emphasized uncertainty around final state aid. A trustee asked when the district would know its state numbers; Ms. Fresenda replied both houses of the state legislature still needed to act and the district could not yet determine final aid amounts. The board also confirmed it must vote on the local budget on May 20.
Officials outlined the consequences if the budget fails and the district must operate under a contingency budget. "By law, you’re allowed to put it up one more time on a specific date, and then after that…you have to go on a budget that is current levels of funding for this school year," a trustee said. The trustee added that contingency would be an austerity scenario that could require cutting staff and services.
Ms. Fresenda described contingency impacts in more detail: limiting the district to a 0% tax increase from the current year, removing the $2,000,000 capital projects from the budget, mandating fees for some facility uses, and potentially eliminating teaching and support staff to stay within contingency budgets. "We would be required to eliminate some teaching and support staff personnel to stay within those contingency budgets," she said.
The district did not present a finalized list of specific programs that would be cut under contingency, and staff said they were still discussing possibilities. Trustees said they preferred to avoid framing specific program cuts as a campaign tactic and encouraged voters to participate when the budget is on the ballot.
The board took no formal budget vote at the hearing; the next procedural step remains the vote scheduled for May 20.
