NEW SCOTLAND — The Voorheesville Central School District is starting the 2026-27 budget season $2.8 million in the hole. 

The school board was presented with the first draft of next year’s budget during its recent meeting. 

Superintendent Frank Macri stressed to the board and public on Feb. 2 that it’s “very early in the budget process. I want to clarify … this is our first run.”

Macri said, “Our second budget really homes in closer understanding where we’re going to be … By April, we really have a very clear understanding of what we can and cannot do.”

The 2026-27 rollover budget  — the expense to run the exact same programs next year as this year — is set to rise $1.9 million due to inflation and contracts, representing a 5.5 percent increase in spending over this year. The missing million-or-so dollars from the $2.8 million figure is fund balance that was used to close the gap in this year’s budget.

After a number of years starting its budgeting process without a deficit, this makes Voorheesville’s second year in a row to have begun in the red.

Employee benefits — specifically a double-digit increase in health-insurance premiums hikes — represent the largest expense-side spike, with overall benefits projected to go up 8.3 percent, to nearly $10.6 million.

The district’s Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan costs are set to increase 10.45 percent with prescription-drug costs expected to rise 12 percent and Highmark plans projected to spike 14.75 percent. 

Debt-service expenses are projected to increase 6.42 percent to more than $2 million for two reasons. The increase is driven by the district’s shift from bond anticipation notes, which are used for the short term, to serial bonds for its $25 million capital project and it is also driven by debt tied to electric-bus acquisitions.

The other major driver is contractual salary obligations, which are set to rise 4.8 percent, totaling approximately $16.8 million. 

On the revenue side, the district anticipates a 4-percent increase in its property-tax take (the levy effectively has a 2.5-percent increase already built in for the next two decades so that Voorheesville can pay down the debt on its $25 million capital project), from $22.3 million to $23.1 million. The district noted in its budget presentation that the number is “subject to change with updated aid run projections.” 

The governor’s budget proposal increases Voorheesville’s state aid by about 7 percent from $9.2 million to $9.85 million; Foundation Aid specifically is set to increase from $5.9 million to $6.1 million.

Voorheesville, it was noted on Feb. 2, is no longer classified as a “hold harmless” district due to changes in wealth measurements and enrollment, positioning it to receive the 2.82 percent increase, rather than the 1 percent proposed for hold-harmless districts.