District Officials Begin to Develop 2024/25 Budget

Huntington UFSD officials are busy building a draft budget to fund school district operations in 2024/25 school district budget. The finalized draft will be given to trustees and released to the public later this winter.

Principals, directors and other budget managers have been submitting their requests and attending meetings with central office administrators to review program needs.

The district’s current year budget totals $146,797,684. Residents overwhelmingly approved the spending plan last May. It resulted in a tax rate increase of 0.83 percent. The district expects to receive $29,702,735 in state aid and $1,407,236 in miscellaneous revenues. The state aid increase amounts to $3,636,987 over the year earlier.

The town assessor’s office notified the district that its final assessed valuation for the 2023/24 tax year totals $44,872,891 or $20,894 above last spring’s estimate.

Trustees approved a resolution last fall that sets the tax levy at $113,711,800 or $253.41 per $100 of assessed valuation.

The New York State Board of Regents recently released its budget and legislative priorities for 2024/25. The Regents are seeking a $1.6 billion increase in state aid, including $926.8 million in Foundation Aid, which represents the main funding category for districts. The Regents are also requesting $343.4 million in additional monies “to modernize the formula, updating the poverty, free-reduced price lunch and high need designations; plus $1 million to contract with researchers to review the efficacy of the current formula.”

Finally, the Regents are asking for $359.4 million in additional aid for other programs that involve reimbursing districts for certain expenses, including relief for districts with sudden enrollment increases, aid for students with disabilities between 21-22 years old and enhance payable BOCES aid and special services aid to include ninth grade and the streamlining of pre-kindergarten funding.

Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to make her ideas known concerning state aid in January and February. A state budget is required by law to be enacted by April 1.