I am not supporting the Sachem School District Budget and voting NO on May 21.
The district is asking voters to increase property taxes by 4.8% forever due to falling enrollment that has reduced state aid. They also plan to increase reserves as part of a five-year plan to prepare for unforeseen future circumstances. Additionally, they intend to test the cap.
The district did not have to pierce the tax cap. They accumulated $40 million in reserves over the last few years without piercing the tax cap. The purpose of the cap is to prevent districts from excessively taxing communities to build up funds. However, the current five-year plan of the district to overtax the community to increase reserves is unfair to the students and taxpayers of Sachem for 2024-2025.
If the budget fails, in one simple move, the district could come in under the cap by simply flipping the appropriated fund balance of $9.2 million to $11.9 million and the unreserve fund balance from $11.9 million to $9.2 million; that simple flip of the fund balance could have created a budget and tax levy that did not pierce the tax cap or use current reserves. or require cuts to staff or programs.
A fund balance is created by underspending the budget. This school year, Sachem underspent the budget by $21 million. Last year, Sachem underspent the budget by $23 million.
Some Sachem Taxpayer Facts:
- Sachem has 26,896 properties: 17,865 in Brookhaven, 7,743 in Islip and 1,293 in Smithtown
- The Proposed Property Tax is $ 8,072.49 per taxpayer
- The Proposed Tax increase is $344,08 per taxpayer
- The Fund Balance and Reserves are $2,259.46 per taxpayer
Fred Gorman
Sachem Taxpayer
