The Hicksville School District is discussing a $186.3 million budget with a 2.58% tax levy for the 2026-2027 budget, according to a presentation given at a Wednesday, March 4, budget workshop meeting.
The district is eyeing a $186,315,191 for the 2026-2027 school year, marking a $5,503,767 or 3.04% increase from its $180,811,424 budget. The district said the 3.04% budget increase would be its lowest year-to-year increase in six years.
The budget will have a 2.58% tax levy increase, which will account for $121,514,425 of the proposed 2026-2027 budget, according to the district.
Hicksville’s $180.8 million 2025-2026 budget required a supermajority vote last May, the only school district that needed to meet a 60% approval in Nassau County.
Marcy Tannenbaum, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, said last year the district decided to pierce the cap and use $2.64 million from its reserve for debt service to lower the tax cap to 1.07%. The district then set its tax levy at 2.54%, which is lower than the 3.35% it would have used if it had not pierced the cap, she said.
The district plans to use $1.2 million from its reserve for debt service for the 2026-2027 proposed budget to “smooth the impact of the pierce of the tax cap in 2025-2026 over 3 years,” according to the district’s budget presentation.
District officials said they expect to receive $46,032,643 in state aid, a $4,438,155 increase, or 8.1%, from the current year’s $42,594,488. The governor’s budget proposal also provides $36,266,337 in foundation aid to the district.
The district is expecting to receive $200,000 less in foundation aid once the state’s budget is finalized due to inflation.
The tax levy will account for 65% of the budget, state aid will account for 24.6% of the budget, payment in lieu of taxes will account for 4.6% of the budget, appropriated reserves and fund balance will account for 3.8% of the budget and the remaining 1.7% will be made up of other revenue, the district said.
As of February, the district has 5,157 students enrolled, which marks a decrease of over 100 students since February 2025.
According to a calculation by Schneps Media Long Island, based on the 2026-2027 proposed budget divided by the total students, the district will spend $36,128.60 per pupil. This calculation does not reflect how the state calculates its aid package for the school system.
The district said it has hired a demographer to analyze the decline in enrollment and a report will be issued that will outline future scenarios.
The district will have further budget discussions before the board of education votes on approving the budget in April. The Hicksville community will vote on the proposed budget on Tuesday, May 19.
