Seaford School District's Tax Levy Sent to County

After a difficult budget season, the official tax levy for the Seaford School District was approved to be sent to Nassau County during Thursday evening’s Board of Education meeting. 

Superintendent Brian Conboy explained that sending the tax levy to the county is a “necessity for us to do in August every year.” Generally, Conboy said, that this is a task that is done in the first week of August. Due to the fact that Thursday’s meeting was delayed one week, it was “very important that we do it tonight,” he added.

The final tax levy sits at  and was adopted by the Board of Education as part of the contingency in June, along with a budget of $54.8 million. It limited the district to a 2.26 percent budget increase and places restrictions on where money can be allotted.

The adoption of the contingency budget occurred after the failure of both the district’s , which yielded a 8.99 percent and 8.43 percent increase, respectively. The 8.99 percent increase from the first budget was the amount that was needed to order to meet at expenditures and expenses.

“These are the numbers that were shared with the public when we did have the budget vote,” said Conboy at the meeting, which was held at .

The calls for the average Seaford resident to pay a $543 increase on their property taxes. The original proposed budget would have caused residents to see an approximate $600 increase. The district faced high tax increases this year due to a large cut in state aid and other revenue streams.

“We will have it delivered to Nassau County by hand tomorrow,” said Conboy in regards to the document that outlines the tax levy for district residents that has to be submitted to Nassau County by Aug. 15.

The certified copy of the final resolution will be given to the Nassau County Legislature and the Nassau County Department of Assessment so they can enact the proper tax changes for residents in the 2011-12 school year. 

Board of Education President Brian Fagan stated that the approval of the tax levy to be sent to Nassau County by the Board of Education “is a requirement that we have to go through.”

“The budget and the tax levy was already set at a prior meeting,” he said. “This was just the formal documentation.”