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Superintendent presents $40.76 million budget and warns federal Impact Aid is uncertain
Summary
Highland Falls superintendent Mike Magliff presented a proposed $40,762,582 2025–26 school budget with a 1.92% tax-levy increase and urged residents to vote May 20; he said the district is relying on roughly $3.7–3.9 million in federal Impact Aid that remains uncertain and could force cuts under a contingency scenario.
Superintendent Mike Magliff outlined the Highland Falls Central School District’s proposed $40,762,582 budget for 2025–26 at the village board meeting on May 5 and urged residents to vote on May 20. He said the proposal represents a budget-to-budget increase of $767,000 (1.92%) and a proposed tax-levy increase of 1.92 percent. Magliff estimated the tax impact on a home assessed at $250,000 at about $8.96 per month.
"Our proposed budget is $40,762,582," Magliff said, and he described steps the district took to avoid deeper cuts, including applying $400,000 from unassigned fund balance to blunt staffing reductions. Magliff told the board the increase is largely driven by special-education costs and inflation-driven contract increases.
Magliff emphasized uncertainty in federal Impact Aid, which he described as a lifeline for the district. He said the district is conservatively estimating Impact Aid of roughly $3.7–$3.9 million and urged community members to contact federal lawmakers. "If it gets cut out of the federal budget, it's cut out of our budget," Magliff said.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Mr. Carballo provided a brief overview of the maintenance-of-effort requirement under Impact Aid rules, explaining that local spending levels help preserve Impact Aid eligibility. The superintendent warned that, if the district had to move to a contingency budget under state rules, the district would face a required $223,000 reduction and could face additional losses in Impact Aid tied to maintenance-of-effort compliance.
Board members asked about enrollment and facility capacity; Magliff said current enrollment is about 925 students and that Fort Montgomery school will reopen on Sept. 1 with space reconfigured for pre-K–2. Capital HVAC projects at James I. O'Neill and the intermediate school are being funded through a 2023 capital proposition and separate capital reserves, he added.
