Residents voted to pass the 2014-15 New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District budget on Tuesday, May 20. Board of Education trustee Tara Notine and Vice-President Patricia Rudd were reelected to their positions for a three-year term after running unopposed.
“It passed by a decent percentage and we’re very proud of our community who supports our schools and supports our students. We’re very pleased with the results,” said Superintendent Robert Katulak.
The budget was approved 1,180 to 706, ushering in the $36,075,435 budget, a 1.55 percent increase over the last year, which district reps called the smallest change in the last decade. This is also the sixth year in a row that the district was able to preserve all of its personnel and programs. In compliance with the tax cap placed on the district, the tax levy increased by 1.64 percent.
The board of education has established a practice of using the district’s reserves to fund a portion of the budget in order to take some of the burden off the taxpayers. For 2014-15, the board has allocated around $900,000. Without these funds, officials say, the same budget would have resulted in a tax levy increase of 4.78 percent, significantly impacting the taxpayers.
Elementary school voters also approved the $86.6 million Sewanhaka Central High School District bond referendum by the close margin of 995 to 793.
