The Pine Plains School Board held the second of six budget workshops on Wednesday, Feb.19, but technical difficulties — including the inability to record the meeting for public viewing — forced the rescheduling of the facilities utilization study presentation until the board’s March 2 meeting. The study, ordered by Superintendent Brian Timm, will help determine if one of the district’s three school buildings must close due to declining student enrollment and possible funding cuts.
The agenda instead focused on the 2025-26 facilities and transportation proposed budgets — each of which will increase between 5% and 6% — and the district’s tax cap calculation.
Richard McKibben, director of facilities, explained the duties of the department to the board, which includes the cleaning and maintenance of the school buildings and bus garage. McKibben said the district’s 15 custodial workers clean an average of 34,000 square feet nightly, though the industry standard is an average of 20,000 square feet, adding, “There are 82.6 acres of grounds to maintain, too.”
The facilities budget is split into two components: operations of plant, which includes the cost of utilities and supplies, and maintenance of plant — expenses like materials, heating system repair, and equipment replacement.
The projected 2025-26 operations expenditures total $688,400, an increase of $14,914 from last year. The proposed maintenance budget is $426,756, a hike of $41,741. Equipment updates, supplies, and security improvements (such as updating school cameras) were the main causes of the hikes.
According to McKibben, in-house projects have helped keep costs down. “We installed several mini-split HVAC units ourselves, at a savings of $16,000,” he said. “But we still have to buy a new floor scrubber [for $10,000], and the school phone system must be replaced. Our goal is to keep our buildings clean and safe.”
Timm complemented the facilities department staff. “Our maintenance crew is top-shelf,” he said. “Their skill set saves a lot of money for the district — it’s game-changing.”
Kelly Roger, assistant supervisor of transportation, reviewed the challenges faced by the department, including the rising cost of vehicle maintenance and repair, the price of new buses and the national school bus driver shortage. “We have 23 full-time school bus drivers, but we need more,” Roger said. (Four or five drivers are absent daily from illness in the cold and flu season, according to Timm.)
Kelly said the district operates 33 vehicles, 17 of which are large buses, Three have to be replaced (two large buses and one SUV) due to high mileage, age, and rust. The transportation department’s 2025-26 projected expenditures are $1,403,520, a rise of $75,750 over the 2024-25 final budget.
Timm said, “Our goal is to right-size the number of buses. We are [retiring] more vehicles than we’re replacing.” Timm said he wants the fleet “healthy” by July 1, 2027 — the date set by the state legislature for all school buses to achieve zero-emission by conversion to electric vehicles. “I think the legislators are realizing that goal is premature,” he said.
“Kelly has turned the transportation department around in the year she’s been in charge,” said Timm. “All I know is that I don’t get calls anymore [about busing problems].”
Business Official Laura Rafferty presented the tax cap calculation — determined by an eight-step formula including factors like the current-year tax levy and the inflation rate — which is due at the State Comptroller’s office by March 1. “We have to set the max tax cap, then work to stay below that figure.” Rafferty said.
The cap will be set at 3.57%, limiting growth in the property tax levy — $116,855 more than the 2024-25 budget. “The main reason for [the higher cost] is because of a 12 to 14% increase in general liability insurance, and an 8% increase in the price of health insurance,” she said. Rafferty said the final calculation will be determined by April 23, when the district’s “property tax report card” is issued.
“We are working to push down the budget increases. I don’t anticipate we’ll be near the tax cap; we’ll be underneath it,” Timm said.