Sweet Home proposes $108.6 million 2026–27 budget with 3.3% tax‑levy increase; buses, capital projects preserved

Don Feldman

The Sweet Home Central School District presented a $108,608,147 proposed budget for 2026–27 on May 5, saying it would meet the state property‑tax cap and ask voters to approve a 3.3% levy increase at the May 19 vote.

The district’s budget presentation said the $108.6 million plan represents a budget‑to‑budget increase of $3,032,135 (about 2.87%) and would set the proposed tax levy at $56,283,605, a year‑over‑year levy rise of $1,796,000. Under the district’s sample calculations, the change would add about $79 to a $250,000 assessed home on both the Amherst and Tonawanda sides of the district, resulting in projected tax bills of roughly $2,477 (Amherst) and $2,483 (Tonawanda) under the stated assumptions.

The presenter said the budget preserves the district’s annual bus purchases and includes a plan to buy 10 new buses for 2026–27 if voters approve the budget on May 19; four of those buses would be electric. The district said it expects external funding support for the electric vehicles from state and federal programs, citing NYSERDA and a federal EPA program and indicating approximately $300,000 in funding per electric bus to reduce their net cost.

The proposed capital program includes a $100,000 capital outlay project, linked to voter approval, to replace doors at the high‑school athletic area and to purchase new starting blocks for the high‑school pool. The presentation broke the budget into the required three components: administrative ($8,566,267), program ($82,137,674) and capital ($17,904,207), which the presenter said account for roughly 7.9%, 75.6% and 16.5% of the budget, respectively.

On the revenue side, the district reported real property taxes making up 51.8% of revenue and state aid about 37%. The presenter said the district expects to exhaust a debt‑service reserve in 2025–26 and noted a roughly $1.18 million increase in formula/expense‑driven aid year over year and a $350,000 upward revision in sales tax projections.

The presenter cautioned that the state budget remained unsettled as of May 5 but said the governor’s executive proposal included additional UPK funding (cited as $690,000) and that the district had conservatively booked a 2% Foundation Aid increase in its projections (roughly $120,000).

Three propositions will appear on the May 19 ballot at the Virgil Center (7 a.m.–9 p.m.): approval of the 2026–27 budget; authorization to extend the MapleMere temporary‑classroom lease through Oct. 31, 2028 (the district said approval would permit $52,920 in expenditures over two years to maintain the temporary classrooms); and the election of one board member to the expiring seat (term ends June 30, 2026).

Next steps: the district will mail budget materials (Sweet Home Source newsletter) and hold the budget vote at the Virgil Center on May 19. If voters approve the budget, the presenter said the district would move forward with the planned purchases and capital outlay described above.