The annual School Budget Vote and Board of Education Election is May 21, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Mary E. Dardess Elementary School gymnasium.

At its April 23 meeting, the Chatham Central School District Board of Education adopted a proposed budget for the 2024-25 school year. The budget totals $35,428,551 and carries a projected tax levy increase of 2.89 percent, which is under the District’s 3.1 percent limit set by New York State’s property tax cap. Spending is up a total of $1,056259, a 3.07 percent increase from the 2023-24 budget. The District’s conservative budgeting practices, long-term financial planning, and use of reserves and fund balance to offset year-to-year cost increases helped the District keep the tax levy under the cap. 

Budget highlights include no cuts to student programming and the addition of Intro to Software Development, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Residential Maintenance & Repair electives at Chatham High School, Lab Aids Cells to Organisms and Fields & Interactions science classes at Chatham Middle School, as well as funding for the new CMS robotics team. Also included in the budget are bus replacement purchases and a small capital project to install exterior security cameras on campus. 

In addition to the budget, the Board adopted a separate proposition that would create a Capital Reserve Fund to allow the District to set aside up to $9.5 million over a ten-year period to fund future improvements to its facilities.   

Voters can learn more at a public hearing scheduled for May 14 at 6:00 p.m. in the Chatham High School library. The  District will also mail its budget newsletter to residents in May.

• FInal Educational and Program Budget 2024-25 School Year

• Chatham CSD NYS School Report Card

• Chatham CSD NYS Financial Transparency Report

• 2024-25 Property Tax Report Card

• Legal Notice of 2024 Budget Vote & Board Election

• 2023-2032 Financial Reserve Plan

• 2024-25 Proposed Budget - April 23, 2024

• 3rd Part of Budget: Transportation, Benefits & Special Education - March 26, 2024

• 2nd Part of Budget: Instructional, Library & Cafeteria - March 12, 2024

• 1st Part of Budget: Admin & Operations, Prop. Tax Cap, Phase 1’s - February 27, 2024

• Projected State Aid - February 13, 2024

Contrary to popular belief, the NYS property tax cap does not cap tax increases at 2%. Instead, schools must use a state formula each year to determine how much they can increase their tax levies by without having to seek a higher percentage of voter approval for the budget. This threshold may be different each year and must be determined by the District and submitted to the state by March 1st.

For 2024, Chatham CSD's allowable tax levy increase is 3.1 percent.

If the year-to-year increase of the District’s tax levy (portion of the school budget funded by property tax) is at or below the number determined by the cap, a simple majority (50% + 1) of voter approval is needed to pass the budget. If the budget proposal carries a tax levy increase above the cap, a super majority (60%) of voter approval is needed for the budget to pass. More information on the NYS Property Tax Cap is available on the NY State Education Department Website.       

The tax levy is the total dollar amount that is raised by annual property tax to fund the budget. It provides a major portion of the funding for the budget; the other major source of funding comes from state aid.

Included in the 2024-25 budget is a small capital project to install exterior security cameras in the parking lot and playground areas of our campus.The project would not exceed $100,000 and does not increase the 2024-25 budget because money for annual small capital projects like this one was built into the budget in previous years. Completing these upgrades as a capital project provides significant savings to local taxpayers because Chatham CSD is entitled to approximately 50 percent state aid on capital projects, meaning the District would be reimbursed for approximately half of the cost of this project.

Fund balance is a reserve similar to a savings account; when District expenses are less than expected, or revenues are higher than projected, money remaining at the end of the year is held in the fund balance. The District utilizes fund balance each year as revenue in the budget to minimize spending cuts and hold down tax increases.

Chatham CSD uses reserve accounts and fund balance to reduce year-to-year increases to the tax levy. Using reserves and fund balance in this manner is part of the District’s long-term fiscal plan to provide for the financial stability of the District. 

The District allocated $1,341,600 of fund balance and an additional $91,439 in reserves to reduce this year’s tax levy increase. 

Fund balance is a reserve similar to a savings account; when District expenses are less than expected, or revenues are higher than projected, money remaining at the end of the year is held in the fund balance. The District utilizes fund balance each year as revenue in the budget to minimize spending cuts and hold down tax increases.

District officials will use other reserve accounts as necessary to cover revenue in areas where costs commonly fluctuate, such as retirement health insurance, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and tax certiorari. 

Chatham’s 2023-2032 Financial Reserve Plan is available at the top of on our Budget Information page.

If voters do not approve the budget on May 21, the Board of Education has two options; put the same budget or a revised budget up for vote on June 18, or adopt a contingency budget. If the budget is again defeated on June 18, the Board must adopt a contingency budget.

The NYS property tax cap law holds the contingency budget tax levy increase at 0 percent, meaning the District can only levy the same amount of taxes (or less) as it did in 2023, regardless of cost increases. However, all state mandated programs, whether funded by state aid or not, are required to be retained. A contingency budget also prevents spending on new equipment and limits public use of District facilities.

These regulations mean that in a contingent budget, the Board would need to make $890,930 in cuts to the budget proposal. The District would be required to remove any purchases of new equipment from the budget (except where safety is concerned), including replacement buses, and would have to consider program reductions, including cuts to instructional and non-instructional budgets.

Proposition #2 on the ballot would create a Capital Reserve Fund to assist the District in financing future construction projects. The maximum amount the District could place in the fund would be a total of $9.5 million over a ten-year period.

A Capital Reserve Fund is similar to a savings account and helps our school plan for long-term needs with little impact on the general budget. Voter approval is required to create the fund. The District would use it to set aside money only for future building and grounds improvements. 

Money for the Capital Reserve fund would primarily come from areas where budgeted expenses prove to be less than projected. If there is excess money left at the end of this school year or future school years the District would be able to put it in the Capital Reserve Fund. The District would be required to receive voter approval before it could spend any money in the Capital Reserve Fund. The District would provide details about any proposed Capital Reserve Fund spending and residents would vote on it in a future referendum.

With voter approval, the District created capital reserve funds in 2017 and 2022 that were used to offset expenses for our current capital project, which voters approved in 2023. With those Capital Reserves now gone, the District is seeking an additional Capital Reserve Fund to help cover the costs of future capital work.

To be eligible to vote you must be:
• A citizen of the United States 18 years of age or older
• A resident of the Chatham Central School District for a period of 30 days or more directly preceding the date of the vote
• Registered to vote with either the School District or the Columbia County Board of Elections

Voters who wish to vote early by mail may submit an application to vote by mail-in ballot.

Voters who are unable to vote in person on May 21, 2024 may submit an application to vote by absentee ballot.

Applications for early voting/absentee ballots will be available starting Monday, April 22 from the District Clerk in the Superintendent’s Office. The last day to submit an application for an early voting/absentee ballot is Tuesday, May 14 if the applicant wishes to receive the ballot by mail, or Monday, May 20 if the applicant wishes to receive the ballot in person.

Early voting/absentee ballots must be returned to the District Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the vote, Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

For more information, contact Deborah Pottenburgh, District Clerk, at 518-392-1501 or pottenburghd@chatham.k12.ny.us.

Not registered to vote? You can register to vote with the School District on the following voter registration days:

• Wednesday, May 1, 2024 between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. in the Mary E. Dardess Elementary School lobby

• Wednesday, May 15, 2024 between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. in the Mary E. Dardess Elementary School lobby

For information about the 2024 Board election, please visit our Board of Education Election page...

The 2023-24 budget totals $34,372,292 and carries a projected tax levy increase of 1.98 percent, which is under the District’s 3.52 percent limit set by New York State’s property tax cap for 2023. This represents the largest difference between what the tax cap allows and what the actual tax levy increase is since the tax cap became law. Spending is up a total of $754,191, a 2.24 percent increase from the 2022-23 budget.

Budget highlights include no program cuts or layoffs and the addition of a full-time speech pathologist position at Mary E. Dardess Elementary School, the addition of a k-5 literacy coach position, increased support for academic intervention services at Chatham Middle School, increased cross-curricular literacy learning in 8th grade, and the addition of American History Through Film & Music, Music Technology & Production, and Studio in Media Arts classes at Chatham High School. Budget reductions include the elimination of a kindergarten teaching position (due to decreased enrollment) and the elimination of a vendor contract that provided part-time speech pathologist service

Included in the budget is the purchase of one 35-passenger gas school bus and one 66-passenger gas school bus, which will replace two 13-year-old 66-passenger buses with mechanical issues as part of the District’s ongoing bus replacement plan. For every dollar spent on bus purchases, the District receives approximately $0.31 (31 percent) back in aid from New York State.

Also built into the budget is a small capital project to improve the ceiling and audio-visual instructional technology in the high school auditorium. As a capital project, the work is eligible to receive 50 percent back in state aid.

Learn more about the 2023-24 budget...

2023-2024 Budget Information
2022-2023 Budget Information
2021-2022 Budget Information
2020-2021 Budget Information
2019-2020 Budget Information
2018-2019 Budget Information
2017-2018 Budget Information
2016-2017 Budget Information
2015-2016 Budget Information
2014-2015 Budget Information
2013-2014 Budget Information
2012-2013 Budget Information
2011-2012 Budget Information
2010-2011 Budget Information
2009-2010 Budget Information

Questions or comments about the budget?

Email them to budget@chatham.k12.ny.us