School budget has no change in tax levy

KINGSTON, N.Y. » The current draft of the Kingston school district’s 2021-22 stands at just under $196 million. That’s about 4.6% larger than the district’s 202021 spending plan, but the property tax levy would be unchanged at $107.42 million.

Helping to keep the tax levy steady is $21.6 million in recently approved federal aid that can be spent by the district over the next several years, as well as an expected 9.4% jump in state aid.

“Looking at the increase in [state] revenues and the federal money that we have coming in ... we’re keeping all of our programs, all of our personnel,” district Superintendent Paul Padalino said during a Board of Education meeting Wednesday night.

He also said that as the district learns more about the federal aid from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, “we’ll be adding to our programs to help with the learning gaps we know we’re going to have from the last 14 months ... of this [COVID-19] crisis.”

Keeping the tax levy steady, meanwhile, will help property owners who have been strained financially by the pandemic, Padalino said.

“Our community also suffered through ... this crisis,” he said. “I think the consideration of looking at [an amount] lower than the tax levy limit [set by the state] ... is responsible and reasonable for the board to consider.”

The property tax levy in the budget draft is $1.41 million below the maximum allowed by the state, while the expected state aid for the district is $76.14 million, a jump of $6.52 million from the 2020-21 level.

The entire budget, which still must be adopted by the school board and go before voters, totals $195.98 million, which is $8.56 million larger than the district’s 2020-21 budget.

The 2021-22 budget assumes a 4% increase in the district’s cost for employee health insurance, as well as increased debt related to school building improvements.