What will happen in West Hempstead with the school budget revote?

West Hempstead residents might feel a little bit of déjà vu when they return to the polls on Tuesday, June 20, because the school board has decided to put up for a re-vote the same $74.1 million budget that was defeated last month.

Voters rejected the district’s proposed 2023-24 budget by 201 votes on May 16 —the second year in a row that West Hempstead residents defeated the budget on the first vote. Last year, the budget was passed during a re-vote after the district made slight reductions.

This year, district officials refused to adjust the budget, even though West Hempstead was only one of two districts on Long Island failing to win budget approval.

The $74,125,176 budget calls for a tax levy increase of 1.99 percent over last year’s budget. The state permitted West Hempstead to budget as much as a 2.43 percent increase under the tax-cap law.

If adopted, the budget would result in a yearly $155 tax increase for the average West Hempstead homeowner.

Superintendent Daniel Rehman said the board of education and district administration believed putting the same budget up for a re-vote was in the best interests of the school district and community.

“The hope is that people will see the budget for what it is, and they will make choice,” Rehman said. “I respect the entire community and their view. We listened to them and the community will decide.”

However, during a May 31 budget hearing, trustee Burt Blass said placing the same budget up for a re-vote and expecting a different outcome was unrealistic. Blass cast the lone dissenting vote on the school board, arguing against putting up the same budget.

“This sounds like the very same budget that was just rejected by the community just a few weeks ago,” Blass said during the hearing. “So I’m not sure why we think coming out with the same budget, maybe with a few more exclamations, would achieve different results.

“If our goal is to have a budget approved, then coming out with the same budget that was rejected doesn’t make much sense to me,” Blass added.

During the hearing, several residents suggested that the district should consider charging for use of fields and facilities, and the practice of using reserve funds to offset tax increases is shortsighted.

During the budget presentation, district officials emphasized several points, including that neighboring districts’ budgets — even those with higher tax levy increases — were adopted in May. They also said that transportation and special education costs continue to rise despite decreasing enrollment.

School district officials also pointed to a comment made by Alan Yu of Cullen & Danowski, the firm that conducted the district’s external audit, saying that West Hempstead’s spending 96 percent of budgeted expenses “is a very reasonable metric.”

Blass agreed, but argued that the district could simply reduce the reserve fund from 4 to 3 percent to offset the budget-to-budget increase from last year. He said that would allow the district to propose a 0 percent tax levy increase while balancing the budget and building reserves.

If the budget is defeated in the June 20 re-vote, West Hempstead would be forced by state law onto a contingency, or austerity, budget, which would result in deep and drastic cuts likely to impact after-school programs.

Rehman said the district begins its budget process almost a year in advance and continues throughout the year to search for savings. “And we will continue to do those things,” he said.

The re-vote is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the West Hempstead Secondary School’s North Gym. The voter registration deadline is June 16.

For the budget presentation, including information about absentee ballots, visit the district’s website at whufsd.com.