TheHicksvilleSchool District is proposing a $186.3 million budget with a 2.58% tax levy for the 2026-2027 budget, according to a presentation given at a Wednesday, March 4, board of education meeting.

The district is proposing a $186,315,191 for the 2026-2027 school year, marking a $5,503,767 or 3.04% increase from its $180,811,424 budget. The district said the 3.04% budget increase would be its lowest year-to-year increase in six years.

The budget will have a 2.58% tax levy increase, which will account for $121,514,425 of the proposed 2026-2027 budget, according to the district.

Hicksville’s$180.8 million 2025-2026 budget required a super majority vote last May, the only school district that needed to meet a 60% approval in Nassau County.

Marcy Tannenbaum, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, said last year the district decided to pierce the cap and use $2.64 million from its reserve for debt service to lower the tax cap to 1.07%. The district then set its tax levy at 2.54%, which is lower than the 3.35% it would have used if it had not pierced the cap, she said.

The district plans to use $1.2 million from its reserve for debt service for the 2026-2027 proposed budget to “smooth the impact of the pierce of the tax cap in 2025-2026 over 3 years,” according to the district’s budget presentation.

District officials said they expect to receive $46,032,643 in state aid, a $4,438,155 increase, or 8.1%, from the current year’s $42,594,488. The governor’s budget proposal also provides $36,266,337 in foundation aid to the district.

The district is expecting to receive $200,000 less in foundation aid once the state’s budget is finalized due to inflation.

The tax levy will account for 65% of the budget, state aid will account for 24.6% of the budget, payment in lieu of taxes will account for 4.6% of the budget, appropriated reserves and fund balance will account for 3.8% of the budget and the remaining 1.7% will be made up of other revenue, the district said.

As of February, the district has 5,157 students enrolled, which marks a decrease of over 100 students since February 2025.

Source: LI Press