Pittsford board presents $161 million budget proposal, approves related resolutions ahead of May 21 vote

The Pittsford Central School District board heard detailed presentations of the proposed 2024–25 budget and approved several resolutions at its meeting, while reminding voters that the district's public budget vote is scheduled for May 21 at Barker Road Middle School.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Mike Vespe told the board the total budget proposal is $161,000,000 and described it as "about a 4.04% increase." Vespe said the district plans to front-load technology expenditures that will generate expenditure-driven aid through BOCES, and he framed the budget in three parts: program, administrative and capital. "The majority of our budget is spent in schools," he said, and he pointed to a proposed tax levy increase of 2.69% for 2024–25.

Vespe warned the board that state foundation aid gains are not keeping pace with inflation and that expiring federal COVID relief will make long-range planning more difficult. He summarized contingency-budget mechanics and said a true contingent budget (zero levy increase) could require turning back "about $3,000,000," affecting capital improvements and equipment.

The presentation quantified some trade-offs: Vespe cited a $600,000 budget gap that the district closed in the proposed plan, noted an administrative ratio around 9.7% and said roughly 22% of revenues would come from state aid and 71% from the property tax levy. He also confirmed the district will close out remaining American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds this fiscal year; the presentation referenced a federal-ARP figure but the meeting transcript was not clear on the exact remaining dollar amount.

Board members approved today several items tied to the budget and capital planning: renewing a capital reserve for bus purchases (to prepare for eventual electric-bus purchases), renewing a capital reserve for instructional technology and authorizing use of part of an existing capital reserve to offset technology investments. Vespe said the district has been selling older buses to offset costs and is monitoring interest earnings, sales-tax trends and reserve usage.

Separately, the board accepted a recommendation from a multi-firm procurement process to select Johnson Controls as the district's energy services company. Vespe described a competitive process with four respondents and interviews with three firms. "We have made the recommendation to appoint Johnson Controls," he said; the board approved the resolution to engage the company to develop an energy performance contract and will consider any final contract in a future meeting.

On food service operations, Vespe proposed a 25-cent price increase at the high-school level to reflect larger portions, added fresh-fruit offerings and wage pressures; the board approved the 2024–25 food-service budget and the pricing recommendation.

The board also accepted the treasurer's report, the quarterly extra-classroom activities report and moved other consent items tied to budget implementation. The district emphasized that all legally required budget documents are available online and in printed budget books at schools and libraries.

What's next: the public vote on the budget and board election will take place May 21 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Barker Road Middle School; voters must be at least 18 and legal residents of the district for 30 days to participate. The board will return to any contract approvals or final energy-performance decisions in subsequent meetings.