GOWANDA — The Gowanda Central School District has more pressure than usual this year as it prepares its annual budget proposal.

This past year, the District was slammed by the State Comptroller’s Office for excessively taxing its residents by overestimating the needs of the District. After the scathing review, a sizable tax increase would be hard for the District to justify.

Instead, the District took a moderate approach.

The first look at the Gowanda Central School District’s proposed 2025-2026 budget shows a 1.2% tax levy increase. While it is still an increase, the District’s expenses are much higher than what the taxpayers are being asked to cover.

The 2025-2026 proposed budget is $39,040,816 — an increase of $1,387,243 (3.8%) from the previous budget. The proposed tax levy increases by $64,308 over last year’s figure, from $5,359,010 in the current budget to $5,423,318 in 2025-2026.

The District projects an increase of $593,698 in State aid from sources aside from State Building Aid, along with an increase of $66,376 in State Building Aid. Those revenue sources could be significantly impacted in the coming years due to changes at the federal and state levels.

While the District currently has extensive funds in its reserves, coupled with an increase in State Aid this year, the expenses in several areas are notably higher than the tax levy increase proposed by the District.

The proposed budget shows an increase of $833,506 in total instruction costs, an increase of 4.1%. Total general support costs are up 4.2%, amounting to an increase of $200,436. Transportation costs are up 7.1%, a total of $171,338. Total debt and transfers – including capital projects — increased by 4%. Total debt and transfers account for more than $2.5 million of the proposed budget.

As part of the corrective action plan the District is taking as a result of the State Comptroller’s recommendations, the District is seeking to reduce its surplus fund balance to comply with the statutory limit. The initial proposed budget accounts for $1,539,851 of fund balance/reserves allocated to make up for the increased costs this year, an increase of more than 74% from the previous budget. The current school year’s budget allocated $883,990 of fund balance/reserves.

The budget vote will include four propositions, as well as two open seats on the Board of Education, as John Waterman Jr. and Barbara Weston’s terms are set to expire. The first of four propositions is the general budget.

Proposition 2 is the proposal of five buses utilizing reserve funds at no tax rate impact. The District is seeking to purchase one 30-passenger bus at an estimated cost of $116,373.45 and four 66-passenger buses at an estimated cost of $661,321.60. The total estimated cost of $777,695.05 will be funding through the District’s existing Vehicle Purchase Reserve Fund.

Proposition 3 calls for the funding of the District’s Repair Reserve Fund. The District wishes to transfer $1.25 million from its unassigned fund balance to the Repair Reserve Fund. The transfer carries no additional tax impact.

The fourth and final proposition represents a local library tax allocation. The Gowanda Free Library is asking for a slight increase to $61,383.60 from its previous allocation of $60,180. Library tax funds are levied by the District on behalf of the library, but are separate from the school budget itself.

Further discussion regarding the budget is anticipated at upcoming Board of Education meetings. The Board meets twice in April: Wednesday, April 9 and Tuesday, April 29.

The District will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, May 7 at 6 p.m. in the High School Library regarding the proposed budget. The budget vote will be held on Tuesday, May 20 from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. in the Middle School Library.