Gananda Central School District is heading back to the polls after voters rejected its proposed 2025–2026 budget earlier this week.
On May 20, residents voted 326–224 against the district’s $28 million budget, which included a proposed 4.35% tax levy increase. That figure exceeded the state’s 2.67% tax levy cap and therefore required a supermajority to pass.
Superintendent Shawn Van Scoy acknowledged the difficult financial conditions and the challenge of balancing student needs with rising operational costs. “Like other districts in the area, it has been a challenging year for budget development,” he said, noting that the decision to go over the tax cap was driven by proposed investments in student services, including a School to Work counselor and trauma counseling through Family Counseling of the Finger Lakes.
Those proposed services added an extra 1.68% to the tax levy, pushing the total increase above the state-mandated threshold and ultimately triggering the failed vote.
Following the defeat, Van Scoy announced a public hearing on a revised budget will be held Thursday, June 5. A trimmed-down version of the spending plan, likely without the services that led to the higher tax proposal, will be presented to the school board on May 27.
The revote is scheduled for Tuesday, June 17 at Richard Mann Elementary School.
While Gananda was the only district to have its budget rejected in Wayne County, voters in nearby districts, including Clyde-Savannah, Newark, Wayne Central, and others, approved their respective budgets and board candidates by wide margins.
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