Nyack School Trustees Propose $83M Budget for 2017-18

NYACK, NY — The proposed 2017-18 budget for the Nyack school district includes an increase of 2.96 percent over current spending. Total proposed spending for the school year is $83,090,000. The proposed increase in the tax levy is 2.09 percent, which is under the property tax cap mandated by the state.

One of the biggest issues school officials pointed out in their budget presentation is the "empty promise" from New York State about "Foundation Aid" for Nyack schools. Since the seven years since Foundation Aid was supposed to have been fully phased in, according to decisions made in Albany during the Great Recession, Nyack's shortfall is now $26.9 million.

The other is the tax cap. District officials used a graphic to show how teacher retirement costs and employee health insurance costs are rising much faster than the Consumer Price Index, on which the tax cap is based each year.

Among the highlights of the budget: renovations will be made to boys and girls bathrooms at the middle school; a 50-year-old underground oil storage tank at Hilltop will be replaced; and deteriorating asbestos floor tile will continue to be replaced district-wide.

The school district will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget on May 2. The vote on the budget will be held May 16.

For more information, go to the budget page at the district's website.

Image via Shutterstock