Newburgh Schools Propose $394 Million Budget, Keeping Property Tax Levy Flat

Thirty-seven positions, including nine teaching roles and more than 20 elementary teaching assistant slots, would be eliminated from Newburgh's schools under a $394 million budget proposal that holds the property tax levy completely flat for 2026-27 while raising overall spending by roughly $15 million.

The Newburgh Enlarged City School District's finance department presented the plan to the board last week, framing the position reductions as a product of existing vacancies and resignations rather than active layoffs. That framing drew immediate pushback from Newburgh Teachers' Association President Stacy Moran, who argued the characterization misrepresents why those jobs went unfilled in the first place.

The flat-levy math depends almost entirely on $14.5 million in projected state and regional aid increases. Orange-Ulster BOCES, which provides shared educational services to Orange and Ulster County districts, is projected to deliver $4.5 million in additional special services aid. New York State's transportation reimbursements are expected to rise by $6 million. Another $4 million is anticipated through the state's Contract for Excellence program, which channels supplemental funding to high-need districts like Newburgh in exchange for documented improvement plans.

Compensation drives the spending side: salaries are projected to rise by roughly $9 million, a 2.8% increase, while benefits are estimated to grow by about $3 million, or 5%. Supplies, contract services, and tuition add approximately $4 million more. A $1 million reduction in debt service costs provides a partial offset, but it closes only a fraction of the gap.

The district also plans 26 positions tied to a new career and technical education building, though 17 of those would come from reassigning existing staff rather than adding net new head count, limiting the budget impact of the facility.

By holding the levy flat rather than seeking the maximum allowed under New York State's 2011 property tax cap, which limits annual increases to the lesser of 2% or inflation, the district is signaling fiscal restraint while accepting the risk that state revenue projections prove optimistic. If those dollars come in short, the choices narrow quickly to personnel, programs, or a mid-year scramble.

The same salary-and-aid calculus is familiar across Orange County. Monroe-Woodbury Central School District raised its total spending by 5.88 percent to $236.7 million for 2025-26 while holding the tax levy increase to just 1.5 percent, absorbing the gap through higher state aid and district reserves. Monroe-Woodbury teachers carry the highest median salary in the county at $128,823, according to regional compensation data, underscoring how personnel costs have become the dominant pressure on school budgets countywide regardless of enrollment size.

The Newburgh proposal arrives against the backdrop of a state audit conducted earlier in 2026 that raised financial management concerns, adding urgency to whether the revenue assumptions underpinning the flat-levy plan hold. The New York State Comptroller's office, which conducts such audits, typically examines fund balance management, procurement practices, and internal controls.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for May 12. Both the school district budget and the library budget go to voters on May 19, the third Tuesday of May and the date required under New York State law for all school district budget votes. Whether those assumptions about Albany's generosity survive the next six weeks will determine whether the flat levy stays that way.