Adoption Date: 3/10/1999, Revised: 6/12/2014; (Previous Policy #3150 now included in this policy - #3120)
3000 - Business and Non-Instructional
Fiscal Management Goals
3120 Budget Adoption                    

Final  approval of the budget to be presented to the voters of the District rests with  the Board of Education. The  Superintendent of Schools and such members of his/her staff as s/he shall deem  necessary, shall be prepared to explain and justify the budget to the  Board. Final authorization of the budget  rests with the voters of the District. If  approved by the voters, the budget becomes the basis for establishing the tax  levy on real property within the District. If the voters of the District reject the proposed  budget, the Board of Education may resubmit the budget or specific budget  propositions to the voters for a second vote or establish a contingency budget. 

The  proposed budget shall be presented to the voters of the district for adoption  at the annual meeting, to be held on the third Tuesday in May, unless the Board  certifies to the Commissioner of Education by no later than March 1^st  that such annual district meeting would conflict with religious observances, in  which event the annual meeting shall be held on the second Tuesday in May.

The  options for Board action subsequent to a budget defeat are as follows:

1. To  resubmit the same or a revised budget to the voters;
2. To  prepare and adopt a contingency budget

The  budget and any related propositions may be submitted to the voters only  twice. A public hearing on the budget  must be held between seven (7) and fourteen (14) days prior to the second  budget vote. A budget re-vote may be  held upon a minimum of two weeks’ notice, with legal notice published twice,  once during each of the two weeks preceding the vote with the first publication  14 days before the vote.   If the Board  chooses to submit the budget to the voters a second time and the voters do not  approve it, the Board must adopt a contingency budget, in which case the tax  levy cannot exceed the total tax levy of the prior year (0% levy growth). In addition, the administrative component of  the contingency budget shall not comprise a greater percentage of the  contingency budget, exclusive of the capital component, than the lesser of:

1. The percentage the administrative component  had comprised in the prior year budget exclusive of the capital component; or
2. The percentage the administrative component  had comprised in the last proposed defeated budget exclusive of the capital  component.

Policy References:
        Education Law §§1716, 2022, 2023