The Pine Plains Central School District had faced a possible budget increase of more than 6.6% next year — which would exceed the state’s tax cap — largely because of soaring health insurance costs.
But after the district received new information from its insurance consortium, that projected increase has dropped closer to 4% to 4.5%, easing pressure on both the district and taxpayers.
District officials had initially been told that employee health insurance premiums could rise by more than 16% in 2026-27 — a jump that would have pushed the district roughly $906,000 over the state tax levy limit and required a 60% supermajority vote to pass the budget. After meeting with the Dutchess Educational Health Insurance Consortium (DEHIC), however, officials learned the increase may instead be closer to 10%. That revision reduces — though does not eliminate — the risk of piercing the tax cap.
The tax levy for the coming academic year was capped at 2% in January by State Comptroller Anthony DiNapoli. Soaring health care costs have threatened to push the district’s tax levy 2.7% over the state limit.
District Business Official Laura Rafferty presented her preliminary 2026-27 tax cap calculation to the school board at its Feb 17 meeting. The final figures must be received by the state comptroller’s office no later than March 1 — less than two weeks away.
Rafferty said that some expenses, like health insurance premiums, are out of the district’s control. DEHIC negotiates with health insurance carriers to secure better rates; historically, employee health care costs have risen 6 to 7% annually. But at the time of the board meeting, the anticipated increase was more than double, at 16.43%. According to Rafferty, DEHIC was working to bring that number down.
Veteran school board member Fred “Chip” Couse told the Herald that was just what happened. “[On Feb. 18] DEHIC dialed back the numbers from over a 16% increase to a 10% increase,” Couse said. “That’s still over the tax cap, but the tax levy would only be raised by 4 to 4.5%, not 6.64%. That’s a big difference.” He said the school board may be able to find ways to bring the number down even lower. District Superintendent Brian Timm agreed, and said that this is an example of how the district budget projections change day-to-day. “We are building our budget in real time,” he said.
According to Couse, a supermajority vote is hard to come by. At the Jan. 8 school board meeting, he said that at least half of the school districts in New York needing a supermajority failed their votes last year, which resulted in a contingency budget — designed to protect essential school services, but often forcing cuts to extracurriculars and other programs.
The possible 16.43% increase in employee health care premiums prompted Timm to recommend shuttering Stanfordville’s Cold Spring Early Learning Center at that Jan. 8 meeting. Its pre-K through first grade students would move to Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center in Pine Plains, which currently serves grades two through five.
A 50% drop in student enrollment — from 1,420 to 783 over the past 20 years — and uncertain future state fiscal support has driven the PPCSD consolidation debate for nearly two years. Despite the full funding of an estimated $6,586,823 in 2026-27 Foundation Aid announced Jan. 20, revenue from state support and property taxes will not be enough to cover anticipated district expenses.
Rafferty listed other expenses out of the district’s control: Special education expenses will increase by 10% (double the usual annual increase); transportation costs are expected to rise by $300,000.
“We have to contract with BOCES [Board of Cooperative Education Services] for buses, since we’re short nine bus drivers,” she said. General liability insurance, which covers buses and cybersecurity, may jump by as much as 16%. “That was a surprise to me,” she said. “The final number should be available in March.”
PPCSD would have saved approximately $1.5 million annually in operational and transportation costs by closing the Cold Spring school, according to the district’s 2024 facilities utilization study. Student services and class sizes would have been unaffected.
Community pushback — primarily from Stanfordville parents — successfully scuttled the school board’s Feb. 3 vote on the proposed shuttering of Cold Spring school. Instead, the board unanimously agreed to form a community-based delegation, the Building Utilization Advisory Committee, to investigate the educational impact of school consolidation and submit a report to the Board of Education by Sept. 30, 2026.
School Board President Amie Fredericks said she had sent letters inviting all nine town supervisors to participate. “A town board member will take their place if they’re unable to attend,” she said. Fredericks told the school board that town supervisors were also asked to nominate a local business owner, and a parent or community member. Timm said other participants will include several school board committee members and their alternates, and the district union heads. “Laura [Rafferty], our clerk Julia [Tomaine], our district attorney, and myself will attend,” he said. “It will be a large group of people.”
The next school board meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on March 3 in the Stissing Mountain High School library.