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UPDATE: 10:20 p.m.
SAG HARBOR: Voters approved the proposed budget, 892-420. Also, the bus proposition, which approves the purchase of six new buses, passed, 851-432. Incumbent School Board members Gregg Schiavoni (1,039 votes) and Walter Wilcoxen (795) held off challenger Tom Gleeson (576) to keep their seats.
UPDATE: 10:05 p.m.
HAMPTON BAYS: Voters easily approved the proposed school budget, 945-393. Two incumbents were unopposed for reelection to the School Board: Chris Garvey (1,072 votes) and Warren Booth (977).
UPDATE: 9:52 p.m.
SPRINGS: The district budget was approved comfortably, 434-139. School Board Vice President John B. Grant, the incumbent, was reelected to another three-year term. He fended off a challenge from Dennis Donatuti. The outcome was 381-153.
SOUTHAMPTON: The proposed budget was approved by voters, 566-260. By similar margins, a proposition for bus fleet replacement using capital reserve funds, the Southampton Historical Museum budget and the Southampton Youth Association budget were approved. The Parrish Art Museum budget was approved by a tighter margin, 496-324. In a close race for two open seats, Andrew Brindle (370 votes) and James Wilson (366) were elected, with Charles Styler (348) and Jacqueline Robinson (140) coming up short. Mr. Brindle will serve a full five-year term, and Mr. Wilson will serve the remaining four years in former School Board member Amy Pierson’s place.
RIVERHEAD: The budget was approved, 1,703-1,061. Two School Board members were unopposed for reelection: Susan Koukounas (1,842 votes) and Thomas Carson (1,678).
UPDATE: 9:40 p.m.
WESTHAMPTON BEACH: Budget passes, 521-300, a margin of 63.5 percent—the supermajority necessary to pierce the state tax levy cap, as the budget does. Gordon Werner defeated Joyce Donneson, 422-352, for a single seat on the School Board.
EASTPORT SOUTH MANOR: The budget was easily approved, 1,015-587. Incumbents Kenneth Cooke (875 votes) and Kevin Gleason (829) retained their seats on the School Board, beating challenger Stevenson Petit (526).
EAST HAMPTON: The proposed budget was approved, 454-109. Two candidates were unopposed for two seats, Liz Pucci (503 votes) and Christina DeSanti (484).
BRIDGEHAMPTON: Voters approved the budget, 109-54, and the Bridgehampton Child Care Center budget also passed, 109-53. In a four-person race for three School Board seats, Lillian Tyree Johnson (128 votes), Doug DeGroot (122) and Ron White (120) were elected, with Gabriella Bria receiving 61 votes.
EAST QUOGUE: Kathryn Tureski, who was running unopposed for her fourth three-year term on the School Board, received 510 votes.
UPDATE: 9:29 p.m.
REMSENBURG-SPEONK: The budget, which pierced the state tax cap, was approved by a margin of 369-226 (62 percent in favor), providing the supermajority of 60 percent required by the cap. Two incumbents ran unopposed for reelection: Kevin Federico (461 votes) and Cecilia Spellman-Frey (455). Proposition 2, authorizing the district to continue sending students on a tuition basis to both Westhampton Beach and Eastport South Manor, was approved by a wide 480-111 margin. Similarly, Proposition 3, which authorizes a one-year contract with the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, setting aside $251,273 so residents can use the Westhampton Beach Free Public Library, was approved, 471-125.
EAST QUOGUE: The budget easily was approved by voters, 437-158.
MONTAUK: Budget approved by voters, 214-68. Kelly White (237 votes) won reelection; she was unopposed.
WAINSCOTT: The budget was approved by a 40-2 margin. Kelly Anderson (32 votes) and David Eagan (27) were unopposed for two seats.
UPDATE: 9:18 p.m.
More results are in:
QUOGUE: School budget passes, 86-15. Dr. Anael Alston, running unopposed, won the lone seat with 85 votes.
SAGAPONACK: School budget passes, 25-1. Joseph Louchheim, unopposed, reelected with 23 votes.
AMAGANSETT: With 72 percent of the vote (252-98), district voters approved the budget, which pierces the state’s 2-percent tax levy cap. A total of 60 percent of votes cast were required to support the budget to approve it. Mary Lownes, the incumbent board member, was reelected, defeating challenger Rona Klopman, 252-81. Also, a proposition to approve a multiyear tuition agreement with East Hampton passed, 264-85. A proposition to levy taxes for the Amagansett Free Library passed, 281-68.
UPDATE: 9:04 p.m.
Tuckahoe School District voters on Tuesday rejected the district’s proposed $17.8 million budget for 2012-13 by a margin of 275-228.
The proposed budget did not pierce the state’s tax levy cap, but it did include a proposed 9.5-percent hike in the tax rate, in part to make up for a significant drop in the district’s overall assessed property value.
In the same voting, incumbent School Board member Sharon Grindle lost her seat on the three-member board to Harald Steudte by just eight votes, 220-212.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Voters in school districts on the South Fork are heading to the polls today—commonly known as “Super Tuesday”—to approve or reject proposed budgets for 2012-13, and to fill seats on local school boards.
In three districts, the budget votes will be closely watched, as Amagansett, Westhampton Beach and Remsenburg-Speonk all will pierce a new New York State-imposed cap on the tax levy, the amount collected from property taxes in the district. The new cap, which limits the increase in the levy to 2 percent, with some spending excluded, is in effect for the first time with Tuesday’s votes. In the three districts that will exceed the cap, 60 percent of voters must approve the budget for it to be approved, rather than a simple majority of votes cast.
The Tuckahoe Common School District’s proposed 2012-13 $17.8 million budget will not pierce the cap, but a proposed 9.5-percent hike in the tax rate has some Tuckahoe residents seeing red—a few signs have been placed around Tuckahoe encouraging residents to reject the budget—though the impact on individual tax bills likely will be much lower, since the district’s total assessed value fell nearly 20 percent since last year, canceling out much of the impact of the rate increase.
For the 2011-12 school year, the tax rate was $6.60 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. The projected tax rate for the 2012-13 school year is $7.23 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, meaning a taxpayer whose home is assessed at $1 million could expect to pay about $7,230 in school property taxes next year, or $630 more than the current year.
But the rate increase was spurred on by a precipitous drop in tax assessments. In some neighborhoods, assessments dropped as much as 18 percent. According to Acting Town Tax Assessor Lisa Goree, there have been a higher than usual number of assessment grievances that resulted in lower assessments last year, and there have been lower sales prices in Tuckahoe and the Shinnecock Hills region.
Many districts on the South Fork have competitive races for open school board seats.
Results of voting in each district in Southampton and East Hampton towns will be posted tonight at 27east.com.
on May 15, 2012