Newburgh, Saugerties school budgets defeated, all others in region pass. What happens next

Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record
·4 min read

Voters in the Newburgh and Saugerties school districts defeated proposed budgets for the 2024-25 school year on Tuesday.

All other proposed school budgets in the region passed.

See full preliminary results at the bottom of this story.

Newburgh voters rejected a proposed $360.4 million budget by 118 votes, with 1,106 residents voting no and 988 voting yes. The previous year's budget was $335.4 million.

Those same voters did approve a $6.1 million budget for the Newburgh Free Library, up from $5.9 million in the current fiscal year, by a vote of 1,183 yes and 892 no.

Saugerties' proposed $77.75 million budget for 2024-25, up from the current fiscal year's $71.19 million, actually received more yes votes than no votes — 934 residents voted yes and 679 voted no.

But the budget required a 60% approval level because the proposal attempted to override the state-mandated property tax levy cap. They fell 34 votes short. The budget called for a 4.91% increase in the tax levy, while the cap would have required the district to hold the line at 3.62%.

Homicide arrests: Middletown police arrest two more people in 2019 cold case: Here's the latest

What happens when a school budget is not approved

It was unclear on Wednesday what the next step would be in either district.

When a school budget is defeated, the school board can submit a revised proposal to voters. That usually involves making reductions in the amount of spending and the tax levy, although sometimes district officials have even resubmitted the original budget if the margin of defeat was close and they thought they could sell it to voters the second time around.

However, if the second proposal is defeated, the district must adopt what is known as a contingency budget. That requires a zero percent increase in the tax levy and reductions in spending for non-mandated programs, among other things.

A spokesperson for the Newburgh school district on Wednesday referred questions about the next steps in the budget process to Matthew McCoy, the district clerk, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pollution violations: Attorney general says Saugerties couple owes $8M

However, a booklet the district sent to voters before the election outlined what a contingency budget would look like. The proposed tax levy of $115.08 million for 2024-25 would be cut back to the $110.86 million levy that funded the 2023-24 budget.

The bottom line in a Newburgh contingency budget would be $356.2 million, about $4 million less than the original proposal for 2024-25.

As for Saugerties, in a statement posted on its website, the district said, "The district will be reviewing exit poll results and making decisions on how to move forward in the coming days."

2024 mid-Hudson Valley school election results: Who won in your district

Here's a roundup of preliminary voting results for school districts across the mid-Hudson Valley:

  • Arlington: Budget PASSED with 1971-774 votes

  • Beacon: Budget PASSED with 720-244 votes

  • Chester: Budget PASSED with 334-108 votes

  • Cornwall: Budget PASSED with 1319-485 votes

  • Dover Union: Budget PASSED with 251-69 votes

  • Ellenville: Budget PASSED with 379-146

  • Florida: Budget PASSED with 341-135 votes

  • Greenwood Lake: Budget PASSED with 174-30 votes

  • Highland: Budget PASSED with 511-196 votes

  • Hyde Park: Budget PASSED with 936-624 votes

  • Kingston: Budget PASSED with 1201-523 votes

  • Kiryas Joel: Budget PASSED with 44-0 votes

  • Middletown: Budget PASSED with 525-206 votes

  • Millbrook: Budget PASSED with 386-274 votes

  • Minisink Valley: Budget PASSED with 1500-1074 votes

  • Monroe-Woodbury: Budget PASSED with 1035-373 votes

  • Newburgh: Budget FAILED with 988-1106 votes

  • New Paltz: Budget PASSED 867-193 votes

  • Onteora: Budget PASSED with 973-287 votes

  • Pawling: Budget PASSED with 584-326 votes      

  • Pine Bush: Budget PASSED with 871-418 votes

  • Pine Plains: Budget PASSED with 285-106 votes

  • Port Jervis: Budget PASSED with 566-125 votes

  • Poughkeepsie: Budget PASSED 314-120 votes

  • Red Hook: Budget PASSED with 1452-492 votes

  • Rhinebeck: Budget PASSED with 355-99 votes

  • Rondout: Budget PASSED with 753-334 votes

  • Saugerties: Budget FAILED with 934-679 votes (60% approval required)

  • Spackenkill: Budget PASSED with 253-60 votes

  • Taconic Hills: Budget PASSED with 278-87 votes

  • Tuxedo: Budget PASSED with 473-237 votes

  • Valley Central: Budget PASSED with 662-272 votes

  • Wappingers: Budget PASSED with 1984-788 votes

  • Warwick Valley: Budget PASSED with 961-361 votes

  • Washingtonville: Budget PASSED with 1492-422 votes

  • Webutuck: Budget PASSED with 155-54 votes

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Newburgh, Saugerties NY school budgets fail: What happens next