Breaking down Katonah-Lewisboro School District's 'Proposition 3'

CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - When Katonah-Lewisboro School District residents go the polls next month, it will mainly be to decide on a budget and elect three trustees. But voters will also be asked to greenlight an uncommon approach to energy-saving improvements.

In short, KLSD officials are telling them that a “yes” vote on Proposition 3 would cost taxpayers nothing but could potentially bring more than $1 million into the district treasury. 

Such a vote would send the school board in pursuit of an “energy performance contract,” a state-approved alternative way to finance solar panels for all five district schools, the officials say.

The language of Proposition 3 offers voters a single 159-word sentence. Lawyers and school officials negotiated and revised the wording both to satisfy legal requirements and make clear the potential windfall. But the text poses a challenge for any voter to grasp at a glance. 

Let’s break it down. 

The first part, the one that brings what Superintendent Ray Blanch calls “free money,” only authorizes the board to negotiate with Honeywell International Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) for the solar-panel arrays. 

Voting “yes” would bring 10 percent more in state building aid, an amount ranging from $736,125 to $1.2 million, says Lisa Herlihy, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.

On the other hand, however, a “no” vote would not rule out pursuit of the EPC. “A school district is permitted to enter into an EPC . . . without voter authorization,” Herlihy notes. “Prop 3 simply allows us to qualify for the additional 10 percent aid.” 

Or as Blanch puts it, “We get 10 percent back just by asking the community to let us do this.”

In negotiating the energy performance contract, Herlihy says, the district will press for an agreement “that is budget-neutral.” But “since the contract hasn’t been finalized yet,” she acknowledges, “we can’t unequivocally state whether there will be no tax impact. We will continue to work closely with our professional representatives to negotiate a contract [with Honeywell] that is budget-neutral.”  

Under the envisioned EPC, Honeywell would supply and install rooftop solar at every school building. The former Lewisboro Elementary School would get a ground array.

The proposition cites a top price of $12 million for the solar installation and “other appropriate energy conservation measures.” Herlihy says the cost likely will be substantially lower, closer to $7 million to $8 million. There would be no cost to the district for the solar panels, which Honeywell would own, charging a fee for providing a dramatically less expensive electricity supply. 

This is the language approved for the ballot at the board’s April 10 meeting:

“For the purpose of receiving an additional ten percent (10%) in New York State Education Department building aid, shall the Board of Education have approval to embark upon an energy savings improvement project for the supply and installation of the following energy conservation measures: Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Generation (PV) at John Jay High School, John Jay Middle School, Increase Miller Elementary School, Katonah Elementary School and Meadow Pond Elementary School and Ground Mounted Solar PV array at Lewisboro Elementary School, and other appropriate energy conservation measures as authorized by Article 9 of the Energy Law and the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education §155.20, under an energy performance contract to be separately authorized by the Board of Education at an estimated cost not to exceed $12,000,000, which will be financed pursuant to law and paid for from various sources, including energy cost savings, aid and other funds that may become available with no resulting cost to the School District.”

Voting is scheduled to take place May 20 at the district’s three elementary schools: Katonah, Increase Miller and Meadow Pond.