April 17, 2025
On April 15, the New Hartford Board of Education adopted the $67,724,281 proposed budget for the 2025-26 school year. The proposal carries a 3.26% percent tax levy increase, which is equivalent to the district’s tax levy cap established under New York State law.
The proposed $3,280,489 budget increase would allow the district to maintain all current programming and services for students while addressing rising costs.
The spending plan would allow the district to:
- Increase the number of openings for New Hartford students to participate in career and technical education programs at Oneida-Herkimer-Madison (OHM) BOCES
- Maintain class sizes at traditional levels
- Maintain social, emotional and mental health services for students
- Continue supporting the arts, athletics, and extracurricular offerings
- Continue partnering with Connected Community Schools at the elementary level
- Continue its school security officer contract with the Town of New Hartford
- Maintain the distribution of a Chromebook to every K-12 student
- Continue updating curriculum
- Upgrade bus radios
What factors are driving up the budget?
Included in the proposed budget is funding to cover increasing costs for contractual agreements. Contractual costs such as employee salaries, gas and electric, and school security officers are expected to climb by $419,500. Other factors driving the budget increase include increasing health insurance costs, mandated employer contribution for NYS Retirement System and BOCES costs.
Rising costs to pay down the principal and interest for capital improvement projects is another main factor contributing to the budget increase. Principal and interest payments are expected to increase by $930,000. This is due to the district borrowing more money to cover construction costs, such as the ongoing renovations at Perry Junior High School and the start of Phase II construction at Hughes and Myles elementary schools.
Where does state aid stand?
As of April 17, the New York State budget has not been approved, leaving district’s across the state, including New Hartford, to finalize their school budgets without knowing how much state aid they will receive.
State aid is a main funding source for the district. While the district anticipates a $1.8 million increase in state aid, the majority of that is in the form of building aid. Building aid is expected to increase by approximately $1.6 million due to the completion of several construction projects related to capital project work, such as the Hughes and Myles roofs.
How will the budget affect school taxes?
The tax levy accounts for 60.58% percent of the district’s 2024-25 proposed budget revenue. The tax levy is the total amount the district raises through school property taxes and is determined after considering all other revenue sources.
The tax levy would increase by $1,296,266 to be spread across all taxable parcels in the district, based on assessments and equalization rates in individual towns. The tax increase for a property in the Town of New Hartford is projected to increase approximately $115 per $100,000 of assessed value.
There are several factors that dictate how an individual’s school tax bill is calculated. Tax rates are not solely determined by the tax levy approved by voters; they are often adjusted by changes in assessed values of properties by the towns within the school district, and the state using equalization rates, designed to equally distribute the tax burden across municipalities within a district—none of which are within the district’s control. Tax bills can also be affected by STAR or other exemptions for which individual taxpayers may qualify.
The public budget hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 13. District residents will vote on the proposal Tuesday, May 20. Learn more about the budget proposal and vote on the district’s Budget & Finance webpage.