Board of Education Recap: Budget Review Begins, Property Purchase & Bond Scope Update

Dear Pelham Community, 

The Board of Education began its line-by-line review of the 2025-26 preliminary budget at its meeting on Wednesday, March 12 with a focus on areas related to Teaching & Learning. At the meeting, the Board also announced its intention to purchase property near PMHS for administrative offices and continued its consideration of a Capital Improvement Bond. A summary of the meeting is as follows:

View meeting video

Line-by-Line Budget Review

The budget review began with an overview of the revenue and expenditure budget followed by a review of the Teaching & Learning budget items, including:

• Overview of Revenue & Expenditure Budget
• Curriculum Development & Supervision
• Supervision
• Research, Planning & Evaluation
• In-Service Training and Instruction
• Teaching - Regular School Instruction
• Library/Audio-Visual
• Co-Curricular Activities
• Instructional Technology
• BOCES Services

The preliminary budget was built to advance the goals of the District’s Strategic Plan and maintain the robust educational program while also strategically limiting operational costs through the net reduction of 4.6 full-time equivalents (FTE). These reductions were achieved through attrition (retirements), scheduling efficiencies and reallocation of existing staff. 

Total appropriations in the preliminary budget are $96,290,000. The proposed tax levy increase is 3.69%, which is compliant with the maximum allowable tax levy increase of 3.69%.

The line-by-line budget review will continue on March 26 and April.  Please view a full schedule of topics.

Property Acquisition

The Board approved a contract to purchase property at 29 Franklin Place across the street from the middle/high school. Final acquisition of the property will be subject to voter approval as a separate proposition at the annual school budget vote and Board of Education member election. 

Purchasing this property would fill an immediate need to relocate some of the administrative offices currently in rental space at the Sanborn Map Building with a variety of potential uses to fill additional needs over the longer term. 

The District was approached by the current owner about the possibility of selling the property earlier this school year and negotiations have occurred over the past several months. At the referendum, voters will be asked to authorize the Board to spend up to $1.85 million, which includes the negotiated sale price of $1.45 million and an additional $400,000 to renovate the house into office space, including ADA upgrades, creation of work stations, electrical upgrades, etc. The purchase and renovations would be funded through existing undesignated fund balance and not result in additional taxes. 

It is estimated that the house could accommodate 9 of the 15 staff members that are currently in the Sanborn Map Building rental space. The District is exploring plans for the remaining staff members should the property acquisition be approved by voters. 

Bond Discussion

World Cafe

Dr. Champ provided a summary of the World Cafe event that was held on March 11. At the event, which was designed to get feedback on the draft scope of projects, community members were asked to answer three guiding questions:

• What information would help the community feel comfortable about the bond proposal? What unanswered questions do taxpayers have at this point?
• What do you think about the tax impact relative to the value of the proposed projects?
• How should the district balance the long-term benefits of sustainable upgrades (e.g., geothermal heating/cooling) with the short-term cost impact? Would you support a higher upfront investment for long-term savings and environmental impact?

A summary of the feedback is as follows:

• More information about the data supporting the proposed projects, including methodology of the demographic study and Buildings Conditions Survey would be helpful in deciding whether to support the proposal
• Attendees generally support the higher short term cost for geothermal heating/cooling systems if it is justified with longer term monetary savings and reduced environmental impact. However, attendees also want to see additional data about what those savings would be and how they would impact residents
• Some are concerned about the affordability of the estimated tax increases while others felt that the value of the projects justified the increase. Some felt that the tax impact data was more impactful than the overall project costs
• There are questions about the federal tax credit associated with geothermal and how that would impact the cost and how New York State building aid factors into the project costs

Consideration of Scope

Following a review of the feedback on the draft scope, the Board held a robust discussion about how to structure the bond vote propositions. As part of the discussion, Board members stated that they believed all projects under consideration are priorities for the District to keep schools operational and safe and provide space and resources to best support students’ learning. 

Recognizing the scale of the projects being discussed in totality, the Board came to consensus on including three propositions on the ballot, each of which would be subject to a separate vote by the community. This is intended to provide voters choices on how to proceed. The structure that was discussed is as follow:

Proposition 1

• District-wide infrastructure improvements
• Expansion of Siwanoy School

Proposition 2 (Can only pass if Proposition 1 also passes)

• Expansion of PMHS

Proposition 3 (Can only pass if Proposition 1 also passes)

• Geothermal systems at Siwanoy & Prospect Hill

The Board also agreed that Central air conditioning at Colonial, Prospect Hill and Siwanoy will be included in the bond, however the Board is still considering whether it would be included in Proposition 1 or Proposition 3. 

In advance of the discussion, the District’s construction management consultant recommended that the project budgets for the Siwanoy and PMHS expansion be increased slightly based on recent construction market data. The District is working to update tax implications for each proposition and more information will be forthcoming. A final decision about the final bond scope and ballot proposition structure is expected at the Board’s March 19 meeting. 

Bond Steering Committee

Dr. Champ shared that several community members had been selected to participate on a Bond Steering Committee. Applications were solicited in February to provide professional expertise throughout the upcoming design and construction process related to the bond. Committee members possess backgrounds in important fields such as construction, development and engineering. More information about the committee, including the names of its members will be posted on the Capital Improvement Bond website.