Yorktown School Board approves $126.6 million budget

Correction: An earlier version of this article said that all open seats on the Board of Education are three-year terms. However, one of the three open seats is to fill an unexpired term of a former board member. That term is from May 19 to June 30, 2027. This article was updated April 24, 2026, at 12:11 p.m. to reflect this change.

The Yorktown School Board approved a $126,640,000 budget on April 20, a 2.88 percent spending increase from last year’s $123,095,000.

The tax levy increase is 2.38 percent. The estimated tax rate increase in Yorktown, which makes up more than 96 percent of the tax base, is 2.11 percent. New Castle and Cortlandt, each under 2 percent of the tax base, are projected to see decreases of 6.90 percent and 9.98 percent, respectively.

At the April 20 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Ron Hattar said the continued delay in the state budget is a concern for the district. He explained that several extensions have already been granted, and although the deadline was expected to be reached, the timeline was extended again.

The New York State Legislature, on April 20, passed a fifth state budget extender—nearly three weeks past the budget deadline—which was sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her signature. He noted that this ongoing uncertainty has implications for the district, including potential impacts on state aid and programmatic adjustments.

The school district had to vote on a budget without knowing how much state aid it will receive because of multiple extensions.

“I'm hopeful that it's imminent,” he said of the state budget. “The board is put in a very difficult position to have to adopt a budget.”

A budget hearing is scheduled for May 11 at the Yorktown High School auditorium.

Four vie for three school board seats

Four candidates have filed to run for the three open seats on the school board. In ballot order, they are challenger Adam MacDonald and incumbents Michael Magnani, Jacquelyn Guarino, and Catalina Tyndal. The top three vote-getters will earn seats Board of Education. 

Two seats carry full three-year terms, and one seat is for an unexpired term resulting from the resignation of former trustee Jackie Carbone, which runs May 19 through June 30, 2027.

The two highest vote-getters will earn the three-year terms, and the candidate with the third-highest vote total will fill the unexpired term.

Voting runs from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on May 19 at French Hill School, 2051 Baldwin Road, Yorktown Heights.