Finance officer previews budget, recommends raising income limits for senior/disability exemptions; warns of pilot revenue growth

Maureen (business office) briefed trustees on several budget items during the work session: a one-page analysis of prior increases to income limits for senior and disability property-tax exemptions, the district's budget timeline and newly released state aid estimates.

She reported that the last increment to income limits shifted approximately $229,000 in assessed value off the exemption roll, which she calculated would redistribute about $52,845 across the homestead levy (base homestead share cited at roughly $81,000,000). Maureen recommended raising the sliding-scale income limits again by $5,000 so that the 50% exemption threshold would begin at under $30,000 income. She said the change will capture more residents incrementally and that the Town of Islip must be notified by an early-March filing deadline.

On state aid, Maureen said current-law estimates rose slightly compared with prior district estimates and that changes to the Foundation Aid formula—driven by updated data and new counts of high-need students—explained much of the movement. She cautioned that a reduction shown in "excess cost" aid reflected incomplete pupil-personnel records ("stacks") and that once the stacks are filed the district expects those amounts to return.

Maureen also flagged a notable rise in pilot revenues used in the tax-cap calculation—growing from roughly $200–$250K in earlier years up to about $1.6M in the current data set—and urged trustees to monitor that line when finalizing the tax-cap and levy forecast.

The board did not take a final vote on budget assumptions at the session; staff said they will incorporate reasonable projections and return with refined numbers as the state aid picture solidifies.