Fallsburg School District Voters to Decide on $56.5 Million Capital Project With No Tax Increase

Voters in the Fallsburg Central School District will decide February 3 whether to approve a $56.5 million capital project aimed at addressing long-standing building issues, improving safety, and upgrading heating and cooling systems across district schools — a proposal district leaders say would come with no increase to local school taxes.

The proposal was the focus of a recent conversation on Radio Catskill, where Superintendent Dr. Ivan Katz outlined what’s being proposed, why now is the right moment, and what families should know ahead of the vote.

Years in the Making — and Prompted by Heat

Dr. Katz said the capital project has been years in the making, driven largely by deteriorating parking lots and the growing need to address extreme heat inside school buildings.

“We’ve planned for several years to fix our deteriorating parking lots,” Katz said. “We knew it would be expensive to do so, so we set up capital reserves.”

Those reserves — funds set aside specifically for major projects — were approved by district voters in advance, particularly for air conditioning and heating upgrades, which Katz described as “the most expensive parts of this project.”

The timeline accelerated after a New York State law approved in 2024 set 88 degrees as the maximum allowable temperature for occupancy in public school buildings beginning in September 2025.

“That law prompted us to have to take action,” Katz said. “We needed to make sure that hot temperatures wouldn’t affect school attendance for kids.”

Heat Already Disrupting Learning

While a state-required Building Conditions Survey completed in 2023 identified a number of facility needs, Katz said the urgency became clear during last year’s heat waves.

“This past June, our school buildings were getting so hot, especially our cafeterias and gymnasiums, that we had to close school early on several days,” he said.

Those early dismissals came during Regents examinations and other end-of-year activities.

“Losing necessary school time was not something we wanted to have as an ongoing concern in the years to come,” Katz added.

Parking, Traffic, and Safety Improvements

A major portion of the proposal focuses on replacing and widening parking lots at both the junior-senior high school and Benjamin Cosor Elementary School.

The elementary school’s only entrance, Katz said, is currently about 40 feet wide — creating congestion during drop-off, pick-up, and school events.

“This makes it challenging in the mornings, afternoons, and whenever we have school events,” Katz said. “Creating additional parking and changing the layout of the entrance by adding an additional lane will help to address some of the congestion that we get.”

Smaller Projects With Immediate Impact

Beyond HVAC and parking upgrades, the project includes several smaller improvements expected to affect daily operations and security.

Among them is the installation of card-swipe access for classroom doors.

“Card swipes for classrooms will make our classrooms safer,” Katz said. “Classroom doors will always be in a locked position and will eliminate the issues that happen when staff members lose or misplace their keys.”

Other upgrades include fuel tank replacements nearing the end of their useful life, masonry repairs, trash compactors, and updates to libraries and learning spaces.

How the District Plans to Avoid a Tax Increase

Despite the project’s size, Katz said it is structured to avoid any increase in local school taxes — now or in future budgets.

“This is the question that I get asked most about,” he said. “It’s important for our tax-paying school community members to know the answer.”

The $56.5 million project would be funded through three primary sources:

About $41 million in New York State building aid

Roughly $11 million from the district’s capital reserve funds

$5.2 million in retired debt from previous projects

“When you add the five-point-two million in retired debt, the eleven million in capital reserves, and the forty-one million that we will be getting back from the state, you have a project equaling just under fifty-seven million dollars,” Katz said.

The district qualifies for approximately 72 percent state building aid, meaning the state would reimburse roughly 72 cents for every eligible dollar spent.

“Our past projects have also come in at a zero percent increase in taxes,” Katz said. “Past performance is the best indicator that I can offer.”

Second Proposition: Property Purchase Near Elementary School

Voters will also be asked to consider a second proposition to purchase a neighboring property near Benjamin Cosor Elementary School.

As Katz explained, the purchase would allow the district to widen the school’s only entrance and exit.

“We only have about forty feet of roadway to enter the elementary school,” he said. “We’d really like to improve safety by widening the entrance and exit to allow for our heavy traffic flows and to give our buses more room to enter and exit.”

Katz added that the current configuration can make access difficult for emergency vehicles during high-traffic times.

Like the main capital project, the property purchase would be funded through capital reserves and would not increase local school taxes.

Timeline and What Voters Will See

If voters approve both propositions, major construction would begin during the summers of 2027 and 2028, with some work possibly extending into 2029.

“The roadways and parking lots would be very visible,” Katz said. “Air conditioning and other repairs would be taking place in the buildings and on rooftops.”

What Katz Wants Voters to Know

As voters head to the polls on Feb. 3, Katz said his message is straightforward.

“I really want our school community to come out and vote,” he said. “We’ve been listening to concerns about parking lots and overall improvement of the district’s buildings and grounds.”

He emphasized again that the proposal would not raise taxes.

“This project will really have no additional impact on their taxes,” Katz said.

Voting Information

Voting on both propositions will take place February 3, with polls open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Board of Education meeting room at the junior-senior high school.

More information is available at fallsburgcsd.net and on the Fallsburg Central School District’s official Facebook page.

Photos by: Patricio Robayo