N. Babylon Budget Defeated, Incumbents Ousted From School Board

North Babylon residents defeated a $112 million proposed school budget Tuesday. 

The budget received 54 percent of the vote (1,358 to 1,157), but because the proposal exceeded the state's tax cap, it needed 60 percent to pass.  

Heather Rowland defeated incumbent Jay Shinnick by a margin of 1,424 to 759 and Geri-Ann McNamee defeated incumbent Bob Scheid by a margin of 1,133 to 1,078 for seats on the school board. 

School board members and officials gathered at Marion G. Vedder Elementary to tally the results. The mood turned sour shortly after 9 p.m. when the numbers started being tallied and it became clear the budget, which included a 3.4 percent hike in the school tax levy, was headed for defeat. 

Board of Education President Janet Meyerson said the board will now need to make some "exceedingly unpleasant decisions" to put together a new budget for a revote on June 18. 

The board has three options: propose another budget that exceeds the tax cap, propose a budget that is within the tax cap, which would need only a simple majority to pass, or immediately adopt a contingency budget. 

The second option is the most likely, but to get down to the 2.65 percent tax cap, the board will need to cut about $1 million from the budget, Meyerson said. 

"We worked really hard on this budget," she said of the defeated proposal, which included funding to hire four new elementary school teachers to help trim down class sizes and nearly $300,000 for school security upgrades.  "We believed that it was a good fiscally sound budget and certainly a good educationally sound budget for the kids, but unfortunately the taxpayers have told us something different so in light of that, we will have to go back to the drawing board." 

North Babylon was one of seven districts on Long Island to propose a budget over the tax cap this year. Both districts–North Babylon and Sachem–that were attempting to override the cap for a second straight year saw those efforts rejected by voters Tuesday. Six school budgets in total failed on Long Island and all six were attempting to exceed the tax cap, according to Newsday. 

Meyerson said the tax cap was unfair in that "in every other place we vote, majority rules." 

"It's not fair when piercing the cap requires 60 percent," she said. "I've said to people, 'Maybe that to elect a governor, the governor needs to win by 60 percent.'" That really takes away the democratic process because those who vote no hold a greater weight than those who vote yes." 

If the board adopts a new budget within the tax cap and it passes, the average resident will save about $50 in school taxes next year compared to the defeated proposal.  

The board will discuss its options and possible cuts to the budget during a meeting Thursday at 8 p.m. at Robert Moses Middle School.