Voter Guide: When to Vote and What's on the Ballot
Residents will head to the polls Tuesday to vote yes or no on budgets for the 2015-16 school year, with the impact of those budgets expected to vary by district. Voting hours vary by district. Absentee ballots are due no later than 5 p.m. the day of the vote.
AMAGANSETT
Voting hours: 2-8 p.m. in the school gymnasium, 320 Main Street, Amagansett
School budget proposal: $10,587,479
Library budget proposal: $938,861
Propositions: Vote yes/no on five-year tuition contract with East Hampton and vote yes/no on creating capital reserve fund for renovations and upgrades
School board candidates (1 seat available): Mary Lownes, Steve Grabowski
Notes: Amagansett’s proposed budget is a 1.09-percent increase in year-over-year spending, but it would actually lower its tax levy for the first time. That drop, a .38-percent decrease, means school taxes may go down slightly. In its budget newsletter, the district says a house with an assessed value of $6,000 will see taxes drop by about $12 for the year. The two largest areas of spending are salaries, which make up about 41 percent of the budget, and tuition to other districts, which makes up 23 percent of the budget. In this proposed budget, teacher salaries are increasing by 1 percent as part of contract negotiations that saw a salary freeze for the current year.
Related: A Slight Decrease in Tax Levy for Amagansett
BRIDGEHAMPTON
Voting hours: 2-8 p.m. in school gymnasium, 2685 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton
Budget proposal: $12,818,345
School board candidates (3 seats available): Doug DeGroot, Ronald White, Lillian Tyree-Johnson
Notes: If approved, Bridgehampton’s overall budget-to-budget increase would be 3.99 percent. That would mean a tax levy increase of 3.51 percent — the maximum the district is allowed under the state’s tax levy limitations. The district is drawing on its reserves and fund balance in order to keep the budget within that limitation. Because the assessed property values in Bridgehampton continue to increase, the district is predicting school taxes will not increase next year for the average homeowner. The biggest jumps in spending are attributed to rising teacher salaries in accordance with a new teachers’ contract and the hiring of additional teaching staff. More money is being allocated for technology and physical education programs, and spending on social security and health insurance is also expected to rise.
Related: 'A Conservative Budget'
East Hampton
Voting hours: 1-8 p.m. at East Hampton High School, 2 Long Lane
Budget proposal: $66,081,710
School board candidates (3 seats available): John Ryan Sr., Christina DeSanti, Liz Pucci, Deme Minskoff
Notes: East Hampton’s proposed budget carries a year-over-year spending increase of 1.55 percent. Under the state’s tax levy cap law, its limit on the tax levy increase is 1.82 percent. However, the district chose to stay under that threshold, proposing a budget that would increase the tax levy by 1.62 percent. The proposed budget includes funding for full-day pre-kindergarten beginning next year, another math teacher, a computer science teacher for a new coding program, middle school intramural sports, four new school buses, additional Chromebooks for student use, and more. School taxes are expected to rise by 1.35 percent, or about $41 for a property with an assessed value of $6,000.
Related: Windfall Budget
MONTAUK
Voting hours: 2-8 p.m. at Montauk School, 50 S. Dorset Drive
Budget proposal: $18,993,248
Proposition: Vote yes/no on five-year tuition contract with East Hampton
School board candidates (1 seat available): Diane Hausman, Carmine Marino Jr.
Notes: Montauk’s proposed spending plan carries a budget-to-budget increase of 1.97 percent and a proposed tax levy increase of 1.83 percent. The district is expecting to spend less on teacher salaries and facilities costs, but spend more on transportation, administrative costs, and tuition to East Hampton, BOCES, and charter schools. The proposed budget preserves Montauk’s summer school program, restores the morning and after-school care programs, and restores the “late late” bus that transports students home from late activities at East Hampton High School. The tax rate is projected to go up about 99 cents per $100 of assessed value. For instance, a house with an assessed value of $6,000 would see a $59.22 tax increase for the year.
SAG HARBOR
Voting hours: 7 a.m.-9 p.m. at Pierson High School, 200 Jermain Avenue
Budget proposal: $37,552,566
Proposition: Establish repair reserve fund in the amount of $2.5 million
School Board candidates (3 seats available): Chris Tice, James Ding, James Sanford, Tommy John Schiavoni, Stephanie Bitis
Notes: Faced with a 2.53-percent cap on increases to the tax levy, Sag Harbor’s proposed budget actually carries a tax levy increase of about 2.49 percent. The district is proposing a budget-to-budget spending increase of 1.85 percent. It would spend less on administrative costs while budgeting more for teacher salaries, library and audiovisual materials, recreational activities, and guidance services, all while staying within tax cap limitations. The district also wants to set up a reserve fund for repairs in the amount of $2.5 million, which would come from any end-of-year surplus funds the district may have, and would not require the collection of any additional taxes.
SAGAPONACK
Voting hours: 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Sagaponack School, 400 Sagg Main Street
Budget proposal: $1,772,505
School board candidates (1 seat available): Joe Louchheim
Notes: Sagaponack is in the process of transitioning to educate students in kindergarten through third grade, rather than its current model of first through fourth grades. To that end, the district is spending more on new equipment and materials for incoming kindergarten students. Its $1,772,505 budget proposal represents a 1.09-percent increase over last year’s budget, but depending upon assessed property values, a slight decrease in the tax rate is possible — less than 2 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Although Sagaponack could have increased its tax levy by as much as 3.34 percent, administrators chose to create a budget proposal that stays underneath that, at 2.53 percent.
Related: Sagg to Add Kindergarten
SPRINGS
Voting hours: 1-9 p.m. at Springs School, 48 School Street, East Hampton
Budget proposal: $27,363,316
Propositions: Vote yes/no on five-year tuition contract with East Hampton; vote yes/no to authorize use of $2 million capital reserve fund for improvements including a new parking lot for 150 vehicles, reconfigured drop-off/pickup loop, changes to Ed Hults Lane, and more.
School board candidates (1 seat available): Barbara Dayton
Notes: According to school administrators, the proposed Springs budget maintains programs and services while coming in slightly below the tax cap limitation — 1.58 percent, rather than 1.62 percent. The administration accomplished that by tapping into about $1.17 million in reserve funding and by realizing savings in state-level pension costs, tuition costs to send students to East Hampton High School, reducing professional development, and other areas. The school district is also seeking approval to use all or most of its $2 million capital reserve fund, which voters approved last year, on a series of improvements to the campus outlined above.
Related: Safety First at Springs School
WAINSCOTT
Voting hours: 2-8 p.m. at Wainscott School, 47 Wainscott Main Street
Budget proposal: $3,064,360
School board candidates (1 seat): Kelly Anderson
Notes: Wainscott is proposing a budget that decreases overall spending by 1.58 percent and decreases the tax levy by 2.04 percent. The district is projecting a corresponding decrease in school taxes. It’s the fourth year in a row that the district has lowered its projected spending, and the third year in a row that the district has lowered its tax levy. Unlike other districts that send its students to East Hampton, Wainscott opted not to sign the five-year tuition contract that other sending districts signed this year. Doing so would have qualified Wainscott for a 5-percent discount in the tuition rate, but school officials have said it’s more prudent to take a wait-and-see approach due to the affordable housing project being proposed in Wainscott and Sag Harbor, which could potentially bring in many new students.
Related: Wainscott Eschews Tuition Discount