Only two of fifty-three school districts in Westchester County voted against the proposed budgets for the 2026-27 school year, with the no votes winning the day in Eastchester and Mt. Vernon.
In Eastchester, a $116.85 million spending plan, which would have raised property taxes by 6.31%, was rejected by a vote of 1,385-no to 1,196-yes. The budget, because it proposed raising property taxes above the 2% tax cap, required 60% approval for passage. Instead, 54% of the voters said no. This may simply be a result of too large of a spending and a tax increase for the voters in the Eastchester School District. Also interesting to note that the Bronxville and Tuckahoe school budgets, both in the Town of Eastchester, did pass.
Comments on the Eastchester budget varied, with supporters urging a yes vote. I know there has been a lot of discussion about the Eastchester budget vote. Our superintendent heard that 7.31 was too high. She cut it down to 6.3. You may not like where we are right now, but here we are. Any further cuts will significantly deplete our staff, leading to larger class sizes, loss of programs, cuts to athletics, and possibly having to bust the cap again next year. We have been depleting reserves over the last few years to keep our taxes down. That was a band-aid. Ask questions and demand answers. But vote YES. You are only hurting the district’s students. Hold the board and superintendent accountable. They said next year will be back to normal tax talks.”
But more opponents wanted, and got, a no vote. “As a taxpayer in this town for over 50 years, I see no effort to be fiscally responsible for our money by rubber-stamping the past budgets with no appreciation of our contribution. BOE, do your job and earn the respect of your benefactors.”
And “All I would like to see is a reasonable attempt to work with the taxpayers by considering the burden we’ve been carrying and not dismissing us as fools.”
Eastchester School Board member Rob Krukowski, who was reelected, said,
Thank you, Eastchester.
I am deeply grateful to the community for once again placing your trust in me to serve on the Board of Education. It is an honor to continue this work on behalf of our students, families, educators, and schools.
I also want to be honest: while I am grateful for the election result, I am deeply disappointed that the school budget did not pass.
A budget vote is not politics as usual. It directly impacts the student experience, the programs we can offer, the supports we can provide, and the educators and staff who serve our children every day. Unfortunately, this year’s campaign included a coordinated push for a “No” vote on the budget, and the consequences of that decision are now very real.”
In Mt. Vernon, voters rejected a proposed $276.2 million budget by a vote of 887-no to 768-yes. Their budget would have raised taxes by 1.99%, barely below the tax cap.
Some of the comments on the Mt. Vernon budget include, “I didn’t understand the reasoning behind an increase, especially since they’ve closed 3 or 4 schools. That’s why I voted NO.”
And
“The district failed to involve the community and convince them that they were doing the right things and needed more money, even though they had just saved 17 million a year (every year going forward) from closing three schools and had 5 million from the 3% raise, so why did they need 22 million more dollars we should’ve been getting Tax decreases not another tax increase.”