LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid Central School District board voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the district’s budget for the 2025-26 school year. This budget is an increase of about 3% from last year, and will be beneath the tax cap.

Although some costs are projected to rise next year, the district plans to use about $1.2 million from its appropriated fund balance to bridge the gap, according to Assistant Superintendent Dana Wood. Some of that balance was used to keep the taxes lower than the district is technically allowed to levy for this coming year.

The estimated tax levy for the coming year is $18,079,462, which is a 1.82% 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%.

This puts the estimated tax rate at $5.28 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.

The exact amount of money the school will receive from the state is still unknown, as the passing of the state’s budget is now more than a week late. For now, the district is working from the amount given in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget, which was $3,206,713.

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Increasing costs

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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,” Superintendent Tim Seymour said at a budget session at the end of March. “That is going to have a very significant impact on us and we have plans to weather that accordingly.”

The overall cost for BOCES is also rising by a little more than 10% for the coming year. Administrative costs are going up mainly due to things like insurance, Wood said, and costs for BOCES services are also increasing. The district relies on BOCES for programming for students, particularly special education services.

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Items on the ballot

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In addition to the budget itself, this year’s ballot will have voters decide whether to allow the district to create a new capital reserve account. This account will be used for the sole purpose of purchasing buses and other school vehicles. This will mean setting aside an amount of up to $1 million from surplus funds 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 at the last budget workshop.

The ballot will also have voters approve a levy for the Wilmington E. M. Cooper Memorial Public Library. This levy will be $17,369, which is unchanged from last year.

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. As of Thursday, Briggs was still deciding if he wanted to run for reelection. Skufca said she will not be running again.

The budget and school board vote takes place May 20. The budget hearing will take place seven to 14 days beforehand. Nominating petitions are due in the office of the district clerk by 5 p.m. on April 21. For more information about running for a board position, visit tinyurl.com/sdxa3evj or for information about the election timeline, visit tinyurl.com/mra72nvy.