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Bethlehem board reviews 2026–27 budget plan proposing 2.6% tax-levy increase; voters to decide May 19
Summary
District finance staff presented a final 2026–27 budget with a $119.8 million appropriation, a proposed 2.6% tax-levy increase (roughly $1.9 million additional levy), use of $1.1 million of undesignated fund balance to close the gap, and a May 19 ballot that will include an operating budget and a $1.633 million bus proposition.
District finance staff presented the final review of the 2026–2027 Bethlehem Central School District budget and the items that will appear on the May 19 ballot.
The presenter summarized that the district began budget development with an initial gap of roughly $4.1 million between revenues and expenditures and, after deliberations and adjustments, reduced that gap to about $1.9 million. The board elected to apply approximately $1.1 million from the district's undesignated fund balance to help close the gap. The total proposed appropriations for 2026'27 were presented as $119.8 million, up from $116.6 million in 2025'26.
On the revenue side, the presenter identified four large streams: real property taxes ($75.9 million), payment-in-lieu-of-taxes ($3.9 million), state aid ($35.1 million) and other revenues (about $3.7 million), with the $1.1 million fund-balance allocation bringing revenues in line…
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