Budget

Yes. The District is proposing a tax levy increase of 2.31%, which is within the state-mandated cap. 

• Preserves high-quality academic programs, support services and staffing to meet the diverse needs of all students;
• Reduces class sizes with the addition of an elementary teacher at Cottage Lane Elementary School and a secondary physical education teacher;
• Increases support to meet student needs with the addition of a reading teacher at Tappan Zee High School and a special education teacher at South Orangetown Middle School;
• Provides seats for all Tappan Zee High School students who wish to attend career and technical education programs;
• Maintains enhanced safety and security upgrades and additions at all schools; and,
• Maintains current transportation services, late buses (SOMS/TZHS), extracurricular and athletics busing.

The proposed budget is 4.24% higher than the current year budget. Transportation, health insurance and contractual obligations continue to be key cost drivers.

To reduce budget growth, the District has made $1.44M in reductions, which includes offsetting new staffing, with an effort to preserve core programming and services. They include:

• Staffing efficiencies achieved through retirements
• Reallocation of existing staff to meet clerical support needs at our elementary schools and Athletics department
• Reductions to non-mandated areas, such as: field trips, enrichments and extracurriculars, communications service, custodial and maintenance budget, furniture, IT service and consultants.

If voters do not approve the proposed budget, the Board of Education may put forward the same or a revised budget for a second vote OR adopt a contingency budget with a tax levy no greater than what was levied in the current year. If voters reject the spending plan twice, SOCSD must adopt a contingency budget which would require the District to reduce the proposed 2025-26 budget by a minimum of $2.085M. As a result, the minor capital project amount of $2M and all district-wide equipment expenditures would be eliminated. Community use of facilities would be restricted, support staff and instructional positions would be reduced, along with various administrative costs, athletic and extraclassroom activities, per New York State Education Department guidelines.

The South Orangetown Central School District 2024-25 school budget passed with nearly 75% of the vote on May 21, 2024. The 2024-25 budget totals $110,595,035 and reflects a 1.5% tax levy increase, which is within the maximum allowable tax levy.

In addition, voters approved Proposition 2 to establish and fund a new capital reserve fund and Proposition 3, which authorizes the use of existing capital reserve funds to remove and replace two boilers at Tappan Zee High School.

• 2024-25 Budget Newsletter: English | Spanish
• 2024-25 Budget Book

The South Orangetown Central School District 2023-2024 school budget passed with 70% of the vote on May 16, 2023. The 2023-24 budget totals $108,815,021, reflects a 7.15% budget-to-budget increase and remains within the state-mandated tax cap with a 2.08% tax levy increase.

• 2023-24 Budget Newsletter: English | Spanish
• 2023-24 Budget Book

The South Orangetown Central School District 2022-2023 school budget passed with 67% of the vote on May 17, 2022. The approved budget totaled $101,554,865 and reflected a 3.41% budget-to-budget increase and a 2.77% tax levy increase. The budget remained within the state-mandated tax cap.

Voters also approved Proposition #2, which extended the time period for the District’s existing Capital Reserve Fund by 10 years (through 2036) and increased the ultimate amount of the Fund by $10,000,000 to offset future capital projects.

• 2022-23 Budget Newsletter: English | Spanish
• 2022-23 Budget Book