Strengthening Putnam Valley's Schools?
Mark your calendars, folks. On January 28th, most Putnam Valley residents will have an opportunity to shape the future condition of the town's schools. That's when the Putnam Valley Central School District is asking residents who live in its district to vote on a proposed $14 million capital improvement plan for its elementary, middle and high school.
The plan is the result of meetings that took place for more than a year with a group of teachers, parents, school administrators and community members. As part of that process, the Facilities Planning Committee toured buildings, reviewed documents, and met with architects and financial advisors.
According to the district, the committee's aim was to propose a project "that addressed critical infrastructure needs, improved academic spaces, addressed the needs of our cultural arts and athletics program, and offered the district long-term savings through the implementation of sustainable energy sources (solar & geothermal)." To gather more input, the committee held public meetings at the school in June, October and December - meetings that were, unfortunately, poorly attended.
Among the most critical needs the committee identified were repairs to a failing retaining wall in the high school parking lot, the need to repave certain parking areas, especially those causing drainage problems, and the replacement of a roof. The full list of items included in the proposed plan and the associated costs can be found below:
In a series of communications about the upcoming vote, district officials stressed that these capital improvements can be paid for without any additional financial burden on taxpayers. The financial plan is complicated, but here's the short version: To pay for the proposed $14 million in expenses, the district will ask voters for permission to use $2.5 million of its current $7.1 million capital reserve and issue a new, $11.5 million, 15-year bond to replace the district's current $9.5 million bond that expires in the 2027-2028 school year. According to Ben Masiona, the district's fiscal advisor, the interest rate on the new bond is expected to be 4.65%, slightly below the current bond's 5% rate. The district anticipates that it will receive about $9.2 million in New York State building aid after the project is completed. As a result, the net cost of this capital improvement project should be about $4.8 million.
Despite the assurance that this plan is "tax neutral", the proposition is likely to stir opposition from fiscally conscious town residents. The vote on the school budget barely wins approval each year. There are already complaints on social media about whether these investments, such as upgrading the elementary school library or creating a fitness and dance studio, are really necessary, and why capital improvements couldn't have been accomplished before.
School administrators point to the inclusive nature of the process that determined the proposed goals and explain that the size of some of these capital projects makes them impossible to accomplish within the always-tight annual operating budgets that keep the district under the state's "tax cap". They note that if the current debt is not reinvested and instead is returned to the tax rolls, it would reduce the tax on a Putnam Valley home assessed at $415,000 by $23.71 a month.
Some residents suspect that this vote was deliberately scheduled for a random day in an inhospitable winter month when it might be hard to get people to turn out, rather than coupling it to November's election day or the upcoming May budget vote. District officials say the January date was selected to ensure that work can begin in the summer of 2026. They said they need this lead time to accommodate the lengthy process of securing state approvals, conducting the bidding process, and engaging contractors, architects and legal counsel.
School district officials said they previously inquired with the Putnam County Board of Elections about whether they could hold their bond referendum on Election Day. However, because the school district encompasses multiple towns and counties, holding a school district vote on that day is apparently not feasible.
If the proposed plan does not win voter approval on January 28th, the Facilities Planning Committee will be asked to consider alternatives that would again need to be presented to the district's Board of Education for approval. The district painted an ominous picture of that scenario: "If the decision is made to not propose another bond, some of the infrastructure work will still need to be completed (without the benefit of state aid), and the District would be forced to pay for these renovations out of the same budget that supports instructional programs and staff." If the board decides to ask for a second vote, whether for the same plan or a different one, that would almost certainly delay these projects by at least a year.
For those who want to vote on the 28th, here's what you need to know: To be eligible, you must be a registered voter residing in the Putnam Valley Central School District which includes portions of Cortlandt Manor and Carmel, as well as most of Putnam Valley. Voting will take place between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28th at the Putnam Valley Elementary School, 171 Oscawana Lake Road.
For those who can't get to the school on that date, you can apply for an early mail-in or absentee ballot. Click here for details on that somewhat complicated process.
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