At last night’s meeting, the Port Jefferson Board of Education tabled a motion to adopt a proposed 2018-19 school budget and a proposed contingent budget. If passed, the proposed budget plan would be put before voters this May. This decision was based on the recently announced tentative settlement agreement that the Town of Brookhaven is negotiating with LIPA.
As many in the community are aware, the Town announced last week that they were close to a deal on the lawsuit it was facing that challenged LIPA’s assessed value and alleged repayment of back taxes. Despite our best outreach efforts, the district has been unable to receive the details of this tentative settlement – in particular, what it would mean financially for the Port Jefferson School District for the 2018-19 school year. As such, the Board felt it was necessary to refrain from taking action on a proposed budget until the details of this agreement are made available.
We are hopeful that the parameters of any deal will be made available to the district prior to the required April 20 proposed budget adoption.