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All propositions and candidates were approved by voters Tuesday in the Lansing Central School District (LCSD) and Library District Budget Vote/Election. The 2020-21 $31,554,110 school budget passed 1049 in favor to 327 opposed. A proposition to purchase buses passed with 73% approval, 1002 to 375. The three Board of Education candidates won a new term, as did the three Library Board candidates.

In the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) the preliminary vote results showed the $136,842,648 budget passing 5,526 to 1,682.  That is $4,887,661 or 3.7% more than last year's budget.  A second resolution allowing the school district to appropriate and spend up to $799,126.00 to purchase six full size gasoline buses; and three transit vans also passed, 5,606 to 1,563.  ICSD maintains a dozen schools in and around the city.  The results were scheduled to be certified for the final official tally late yesterday.

In Lansing the bus proposition is for the purchase three student transport vehicles at a cost not to exceed $300,000. The bus proposition costs taxpayers less money because the District has a policy of rolling over debt for bus purchases. Essentially that means buses don't add to the debt the district already pays.

School District Business Administrator Kate Heath estimates the actual dollar impact to property taxpayers at $34 more than last year's tax bill for $100,000 homeowners, or an additional $68 for a $200,000 home. That is an estimate, because the final district assessment totals are not available until some time in August. The higher that assessment comes in, the lower the tax rate will be.

School officials stressed before the vote that they are not asking foras much in taxes as the state tax cap allows. This year's tax cap calculation allowed Lansing a 4.95% increase in the property owner levy. The budget voters approved Tuesday 2called for a 4% rise. The District did raise tax and PILOT revenues by $358,948 from last year's figure, in order to meet contractual obligations.

That figure is a combination of a $783,138 (4%) tax levy rise added to a decline in Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) revenue of -$397,190 -58.57%. While the total property tax levy is high, the main reason for it is the Cayuga Power Plant. For many years it was taxed via a PILOT agreement that set the tax assessment at specific dollar amounts for a number of years. This year the closed plant's PILOT agreement expired and was not renegotiated, putting the property onto the tax roles, which means the plant will pay property taxes like any homeowner does, based on the current assessed value of the property.

That's good news and bad news for property taxpayers. the good news is that the plant is added to the levy pool, which means it will pay a share of the levy. That blunts the impact on homeowners. The bad news is that the plant property is worth a fraction -- 12.5% -- of its value a decade ago. In that time it lost $140,000,000 of taxable value. In the last year of the PILOT it was valued at $20 million.

District officials said that despite the power plant devaluation the budget would have been in good shape this year if it hadn't been for the coronavirus pandemic. New York State has put schools on alert that their aid is likely to be cut if state revenue intake is lower than targeted amounts. Cuts to school aid are all but certain despite the hopes of school officials. On Monday State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli revealed that state tax receipts in May were down $766.9 million or 19.7% from the previous year.  April tax receipts for the state were 8.16 bill less than anticipated, and DiNapoli noted New York now has a 14% unemployment rate.

"With an economy still suffocated by a global pandemic, the state's finances took another serious hit in the month of May," DiNapoli said. "We are now clearly seeing the recession's impact on tax receipts. As we continue to slowly re-open the economy, it's critical that Washington act on our call for more federal aid."

The school district has already identified $740,500 in cuts, but more may be needed depending on how much aid is cut.  The first of the state evaluation periods has passed, but the amount of school aid cuts based on that period had not yet been announced as of the last Board Of Education meeting.

All three LCSD candidates were incumbents, and all three won their seats back in Tuesday's election. They all ran unchallenged with Christine Iacobucci getting 1054 votes, Tony Lombardo 1116, and Brenda Zavaski 1119.

Of the six candidates running for the five open ICSD Board Of Education seats, these five won the most votes: Sabrina Draffen recieved 1,820 votes; Sean Eversley Bradwell 5,042; Sophia Lux 2,869, Christopher Malcolm 4,275, and Patricia Wasyliw 3,709. Elizabeth Minor had the fewestnumber of votes, and so was not elected.

Lansing Library Board incumbents Deborah Huber-Hwang and Darcet Rigdon regained their seats with 924 votes for Huber-Hwang and 919 fo Darcey Rigdon. Isabelle Schweitzer will be joining the new board. She received 923 votes.

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