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Voters came out in force on Tuesday, May 18, and all budgets were passed in Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam counties outside of the Carmel School District, where voters narrowly rejected the spending plan by less than 200 votes.
In Putnam County, the Carmel Board of Education will have to propose a new budget that voters will decide on in a second vote after residents denied the previous spending plan by a 1,296 to 1,125 vote, or adopt a contingency budget.
The Carmel School Board said it will meet on Thursday, May 20 to determine the next steps, following the defeat of its proposed $133,581,366 budget for the 2021-2022 school year.
District officials said that options include holding another budget vote after soliciting input from the voters or adopting a contingency budget, which would require cutting $1,664,980 from the proposed budget.
“Obviously, we are disappointed that the proposed budget with a tax levy increase of 1.69 percent and plans to maintain all existing academic programs and services was not approved by our community,” Schools Superintendent Mary-Margaret Zehr said. “We are reaching out today through Thought Exchange to solicit feedback from the voters to help inform our next steps.”
The Board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday night to determine how to move forward.
“It is critical that we hear from you, the voters, as we navigate these decisions about our children’s future,” Zehr added. “We are asking voters to please provide their feedback and insights on the defeated budget proposal through a Thought Exchange. It is only with the help of the community that we can move forward in providing for our students’ future.”
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