Bridgehampton Needs Supermajority, or Back to Square One

The Bridgehampton School District will need a supermajority of voters to approve its 2016-17 budget or will have to go back to the drawing board after adopting a budget proposal last week that pierces the state-imposed cap on tax-levy increases.

At least 60 percent of voters must say “yes” on May 17 to pass the $13,778,439 spending plan, which is about $960,000, or 7.49 percent, higher than the current year’s budget. The tax levy would be $11,960,973, an increase of 8.7 percent. That figure is nearly triple the state’s limit for Bridgehampton, which is 3.06 percent.

Robert Hauser, Bridgehampton’s assistant superintendent for finance and facilities, said if the budget passes a resident with a house assessed at $2.5 million would see a tax increase of about $117.41. The tax rate could go up about 2.84 percent, although the final rate won’t be known until Bridgehampton’s total assessed property value is available.

A successful 2016-17 school budget would be the second budget exceeding the tax-increase cap passed by the districtz since Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo instituted the tax levy cap, beginning with the 2012-13 school year.

The school board adopted its $13.78 million spending plan on April 13 without much discussion. Leading up to it, however, the district held two community forums. The second was attended by fewer than 30 people who broke into four groups to examine the budget closely. Three of the groups favored piercing the cap with the 7.49-percent spending increase; the fourth favored a smaller increase that would nevertheless be over the cap.

 “As far as the pulse of the community, I think we’ve done everything we could to find out how the community is feeling about it,” Jeff Mansfield, a school board member, said during the board’s March 30 meeting. “From what we’ve gathered, the district is behind us. They understand what we’re up against.”

Should the budget fail to win 60 percent of the vote on May 17, the district will have a second chance in June, with the option of presenting the same budget or a modified one. A second failed budget would yield a zero increase, which would most likely lead to the severe cuts the district initially discussed in February. The cuts could include after-school and summer programs, field trips, career and technical training, driver’s education, and funding for clubs, along with teacher and staff layoffs.

Bridgehampton will hold a public hearing on the budget on May 4 at 7 p.m. in the school. Voting on May 17 will take place from 2 to 8 p.m.