Brewster Schools Propose 1.28% Tax Levy Increase

By Holly Crocco

The Brewster Central School District is proposing a 2025-26 budget of $123.8 million, which represents a $4.3 million or 3.56 percent spending increase over the current year. This translates to a total tax levy of $83.7 million, representing a $1.1 million or 1.28 percent increase from this year.

Under the New York State-mandated property tax cap, the district could have increased the levy by up to 4.1 percent.

The proposed budget uses $1.3 million of the district’s fund balance, which is $1 million less than was used for the current budget.

Revenue includes $34.5 million in state and federal aid, which is an increase of $3.1 million or 9.7 percent from the current year.

“That obviously has played a huge role in our budget, in allowing us to minimize a tax levy increase,” said Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Victor Karlsson, at the April 8 Brewster School Board meeting.

Instructional costs represent the largest increase in spending, at $2.7 million, or 4.5 percent. One thing Karlsson said is helpful this year is that employee benefits – which the district has little control over – is “only” increasing by about $300,000, or less than 1 percent.

While school board member Jamie Callanan praised the administration for the work it put into drafting the budget, she asked if the district could do better.

“We have a had a huge closure in New York State funding – that has been a boon,” she said. “We have had COVID funds that I know we took and put toward our capital project… But I am still uncomfortable in the numbers because we’re going out to the community and saying, even though it falls under the tax levy, we’re still going to ask you for another $1 million, and with a lower enrollment rate.”

Callanan said she is happy to see smaller class sizes and added instructional support, but that she wants to make sure every opportunity to reduce costs, and reduce the 1.28 percent tax levy increase, has been vetted.

“Are there other areas of savings?” she asked. “I will always challenge on: are there smaller savings – things we can dismiss, that we can get rid of, that we can reduce?”

Karlsson noted that, according to a survey by the Westchester/Putnam School Board Association, Brewster’s budget increase falls in the median or lower third in the region.

“At this point in time, we have the fourth-lowest proposed tax levy increase of the 47 school districts,” he said. “Over the past, what will be 14 years (of the property tax cap implementation) … we will have levied over $10.5 million less than what the tax cap allows.”

Over those 14 years, the district’s tax levy increase has averaged about 1.88 percent.

“I don’t know about any governments that have raised their tax levies 1.88 or less,” said Karlsson.

The board is scheduled to adopt the budget April 22, with a public budget hearing scheduled May 13. The budget vote and trustee election is May 20.

For more information on the budget, visit www.brewsterschools.org/budget/.