Riverhead BOE Adopts $117.6 Million Budget

The Riverhead Central School District's board of education voted Tuesday night to adopt the proposed $117.6 million budget put forth by Superintendent Nancy Carney for the 2013-2014 school year.

The vote was unanimous, according to Carney.

Carney gave a seventh presentation on the budget at the board of education meeting; she explained the budget as presented represented a spending increase of 5.22 percent.

The budget also reflects a 3.82 percent increase in the year-to-year tax levy - and a 14.55 percent increase in state aid.

Carney also discussed two ballot propositions that will be put forth to voters on May 21.

The first involves asking the voters to establish a savings account of up to $10 million to fund a new bus garage, maintenance area, and improvements to athletic fields. 

The savings account, Carney said, would be funded from the sale of property on Tuthills Lane in Aquebogue, and unreserved, undesignated fund balance.

In June, the board voted unanimously to sell the development rights on 25 acres of Aquebogue land to Suffolk County for $1.325 million.

The land, located on Tuthills Lane in Aquebogue near the Aquebogue Elementary School, will be preserved as farmland under the Suffolk County New Drinking Water Protection Program, should the county approve the purchase.

After the vote, BOE president Ann Cotten-DeGrasse said the district had opted to hold two acres of the 27 acre parcel back from the sale. That way, she said, if a farmer wishes to purchase the land, they would have room to erect a farmhouse.

"If we sold the whole 27 acres, he couldn't build a barn," she said.

A new committee ws being formed to evaluate what to do with proceeds from the sale, Cotten-DeGrasse said; one option is to relocate the bus garage to a new site and make the current school property only an educational complex.

The proposition would not result in any increase in taxes, would have no impact on the budget, and would not mean any debt, she said.

The second ballot proposition would ask the voters to allow the Riverhead school district to purchase two parcels of land that would allow a new bus garage to have access to Route 24/Flanders Road.

The total combined cost for the parcels would equal $480,000, including fees. Funds would come from the sale of the Tuthills Lane property, Carney said.

The proposition would also result in no taxes or cost to residents. The propositions, Carney said, would establish a savings account for future use, fund land purchases from the sale of other real property, and allow the district to replace a "failing building," according to Carney.

The Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association sent a letter to Carney and other public officials recently protesting the proposal to move the district's bus barn to Riverside.

A public hearing on the proposed Riverhead school district budget will be held on May 7.

The budget vote -- and election of new board of education members -- will take place on May 21 from 6 a.m until 9 p.m.