Hicksville school district wants to raise taxes by 2.54%, overriding state tax cap
Hicksville schools Superintendent Theodore Fulton speaks at a school board meeting Wednesday night. Credit: Jeff Bachner
The Hicksville school district is seeking to override its property tax cap with a proposal to raise taxes by more than 2% next school year and by around 3% in subsequent years.
Under the plan, approved unanimously Wednesday night by the district’s seven-member board, spending would rise by 4.38% during the 2025-26 school year to a total of $180,751,423, according to district officials. Tax collections known as levies would rise 2.54% in 2025-26, 3.31% in 2026-27 and 2.97% in 2027-28, officials said.
The plan would require support from at least 60% of local voters to take effect. Provisions of the state’s strict tax-cap law require “supermajority” backing whenever cap restrictions are superseded.
Statewide voting on school budgets is scheduled for May 20.
Hicksville school administrators said they have struggled over the past two years to meet rising expenses in areas such as special education and employee benefits without cutting student programs and services. To trim costs in the 2024-25 budget, for example, the district transferred about 230 prekindergarten students from its own classes to programs run by other nonprofit agencies.
For the coming school year, school officials propose drawing $2.64 million from a reserve fund to offset the amount sought through taxation. At the same time, the district, through its override effort, would raise taxes by $1.7 million more than allowed under cap restrictions.
Local officials said these actions will help balance the district's budget without further program cuts. For next year, the district plans a number of additions and improvements, including new textbooks for science and for Spanish and French language in its middle and high schools, a new high school course in computer science digital fluency and new weight room equipment at the high school.
"We came up with a creative solution," Theodore Fulton, the district's superintendent, said of its tax cap override proposal.
Fulton spoke to a Newsday reporter during a sit-down interview Wednesday before the board meeting. He was accompanied by Marcy Tannenbaum, the assistant superintendent for business, and Vito Belcastro, the district auditor.
Administrators said the cap override will allow the district to spread the tax hikes over a three-year period. Without it, they contended, the 2025-26 tax increase could have been 3.35%.
"We want to alleviate that burden on taxpayers," Belcastro said.
Local officials acknowledged that a cap override would lead to higher taxes over a three-year period than if the district avoided an override. By their calculations, a homeowner with an annual tax bill of $5,490 would see a $498 increase over three years with a cap bust, compared with a $414 increase without it.
At Wednesday's board meeting, one local taxpayer objected when Tannenbaum said that voter failure to pass the proposed budget would force significant cuts in programs, including athletics, field trips and student clubs.
"You shouldn't scare the parents ... that's like blackmail," said Raymond Parisi, a retiree and longtime district resident, who rose to speak during a public discussion period. Parisi told a reporter that he decided to speak up after hearing the district was proposing a tax cap override.
Raymond Parisi speaks at the Hicksville school board meeting on Wednesday. Credit: Jeff Bachner
But another audience member, Ryan Chaplin, then rose to defend the position taken by school officials. Chaplin is president of an association of parents who support student music programs.
"There is no blackmail about making this budget pass — we want it to pass," Chaplin said.
Hicksville is the second of Long Island's 124 school districts to publicly announce a tax cap override attempt. Shelter Island's school board on April 7 approved a budget plan that would raise spending by 5.8% and taxes by 6.9%, which is over the district's cap limit.
John Hildebrand is Newsday's senior education writer and has covered school news and policy issues affecting Long Island for more than 40 years.
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