The Northport-East Northport school district will ask residents to consider a budget that’s about $14,000 less than the original that failed earlier this month and includes no tax levy increase thanks in part to a $1 million boost schools officials just learned about.
Speaking at a special school board meeting Thursday night, Superintendent Robert Banzer said he received a “$1 million phone call” from State Sen. James Gaughran, who was able to secure additional funding in miscellaneous revenue from recently passed legislation created to aid localities such as Northport that are adversely affected by tax certiorari settlements.
Those funds, along with more than $111,200 in assigned fund balance, have enabled the district to reduce the tax levy by more than $1.1 million and lead to a 0% tax levy increase for the $174,689,788 budget for the year 2021-22.
The revote has been scheduled for June 15 and the revised budget was unanimously passed by the board.
Officials said some expenditures have been covered by the federal American Rescue Plan, enabling the district to budget $500,000 to build two playgrounds at East Northport Middle School and Northport Middle School.
If voters reject the budget, the district would be forced on a contingency budget that Banzer said would have a significant negative impact on student programs and could deter from “moving the district forward.”
Banzer said there would be no increase in taxes for an average home assessed at $3,800. The prior budget called for an average $58 increase.
The district initially proposed a $174.7 million budget with a 0.75% tax increase that required a simple majority to pass
The May 18 budget vote failed by 167 votes, 2,069-1,902. The budget vote came just weeks after a controversial plan to close two elementary schools was approved by the board.
