Connetquot board places $230.33 million budget on May ballot amid dispute over a reported $16.7 million gap

The Connetquot Central School District Board of Education voted April 28 to place its proposed $230,328,450 2026–27 budget on the May 19 ballot after a final presentation by the district business office and an hourslong public-comment period that included calls for an independent audit.

Board business official Robert Hauser, the district’s assistant superintendent for business operations, told the board the draft budget reflects estimated revenues and expenditures and noted state aid remains subject to the state budget. Hauser said the district’s tax levy cap calculation, which includes capital exclusions for technology and plant projects totaling $971,931, produces a proposed levy of $148,790,217 (a 2.12% increase). "That was the preliminary budget," Hauser said of an earlier run that showed a much larger shortfall, adding the district identified sizable reductions and revenues between February and March to narrow the gap.

The heart of the meeting’s contention centered on an assertion by a board member that the district had…