LAKE PLACID — Lake Placid Central School District may have to tighten its belt to balance rising costs in the coming fiscal year, but district administrators are confident they can make it work with padding provided by the district’s healthy fund balance.

During a budget workshop Tuesday, Superintendent Tim Seymour and Assistant Superintendent Dana Wood presented a plan for a budget of $23.1 million, a 3.13% increase from the current fiscal year. The estimated tax levy for the coming year is $18,087,429, which is a 1.86% increase from last year.

The state limits municipalities to a 2% tax cap, which means the levy can only increase by 2% each year. Technically, because the district has bond payments that can be excluded from the tax cap, the district’s maximum allowable levy was $18,207,183, or an increase of 2.53%.

The estimated tax rate at $5.2835 per $1,000 in assessed value for both Wilmington and North Elba, an increase of about 9 cents from last year. This means a property with a value of $300,000 would pay about $1,585 in school district taxes in 2025-26.

Wood said the district has about $1.2 million in its appropriated fund balance that will be used to offset rising costs in the coming year. Some of that balance was used to keep the taxes lower than the district is technically allowed to levy for this coming year.

Although there has been some uncertainty around the amount of money the district might receive from the state, Seymour said the amount proposed in the state executive budget was $3,206,713. It appears the state is not going to decrease foundation aid despite discussions around adjusting the formula to account for schools whose populations have decreased. The deadline for the state budget is April 1, but in past years, Wood said the state has not finalized its budget until later in the month.

The district also plans to create a new capital reserve account which will be used for the sole purpose of purchasing buses and other school vehicles. This fund will mean setting aside an amount of up to $1 million in an account that can be open for 10 years.

“It allows us to keep it out of the budget, so we don’t have to budget year-in and year-out for these purchases,” Wood said.

This reserve account will need to be approved by voters when elections roll around in May.

Among the costs that are increasing for the coming school year is health insurance, which is increasing by around 12% and will cost LPCSD an extra $600,000. This increase is applicable to all 10 districts in the Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES consortium. This cost increase is normally about 6% or 7%, Wood said.

“That is massive,” Seymour said. “That is going to have a very significant impact on us and we have plans to weather that accordingly.”

Wood said the increase was mainly related to 10 or 11 high-cost payments that drove up the overall cost of insurance for the consortium.

The district receives about 79% of its revenue from property taxes and 14% from state aid. Although the tax revenue cannot compete with the increases in expenses, Seymour said he and Wood are working with the administrative team to cut down on expenses wherever possible. In the meantime, they are confident that their fund balance will help them bridge the gap.

–

Status of federal funds

–

Every year, the district receives funds from the U.S. Department of Education through Title 1 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Combined, the district received about $400,000 for both programs, according to Wood.

Since these funding sources are allocated for very specific programs and services, the district doesn’t normally include these federal funds in their budget. However, Wood said there is some concern that this funding might be reduced or even taken away, in which case the district would need to find other ways to absorb those costs.

“Are we concerned?” Wood said. “Sure.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to eliminate the Department of Education on March 20. The next day, he said student loans would be handled by the Small Business Administration and that special education and nutrition programs would move under the Department of Health and Human Services.

Wood said the district is yet to receive any official communication from the federal government about the status of these programs and funds. Normally, the district expects communications about federal funding for the next school year in May or during the summer.

LPCSD also receives trickle-down federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that is dispersed by the state’s Community Eligibility Provision to help provide free lunches for students who need it. Lake Placid is supposed to be eligible for this program for the next two school years, but the continued availability of these funds is currently unclear, Wood said.

School board elections

There will be two open seats on the school board for the coming year, with Vice President Ronald Briggs and board member Colleen Skufca’s terms set to end in June. The term for the next elected board members will start July 1.

The budget and school board vote takes place May 20. The budget hearing will take place 7 to 14 days beforehand. Nominating petitions are due in the office of the district clerk by 5 p.m. on April 21.