The Ogdensburg City School District Budget

A community resource compiling publicly available financial documents from the district.

Re-vote: Tuesday, June 16, 2026 · 19 days until polls close · 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Ogdensburg Free Academy

This year's $56.1M operating budget is balanced by drawing $4,237,260 from accumulated reserves. The district serves 1,298 K-12 students; state aid covers approximately 65% of operating revenue.

The Vote

May 19, 2026 results

Approximately 630 ballots cast.

Board of Education. Renee Grizzuto and Angela McRoberts elected to 2 open seats (uncontested race).
Voters could select up to two candidates.

What's Happened to Property Taxes

For four consecutive years (FY 2021-22 through FY 2024-25), the district's property tax levy stayed approximately flat at $11M. The community-wide picture during this period, per NY State Comptroller property tax data:

• Tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value: $27.04 → $21.37 (-21%)
• Community full value (total assessed property value): $392M → $496M (+27%)
• Levy (rate × full value, simplified): ~$11M → ~$11M (flat)

The two changes offset: the rate fell as the community-wide assessed value rose, keeping the total levy steady.

After the flat period

• 2025-26: $10,862,259 (+2.49%) — the first increase in five years
• 2026-27 (proposed): $11,295,663 (+3.99%) — on the June 16 ballot

Source: NY State Comptroller property tax data; district levy figures from BOE budget filings.

Where the District's Current Budget Goes

FY 2025-26 General Fund · current appropriation $56,126,950

Source: Ogdensburg City SD, March 2026 Budget Status Report (run 2026-04-14, as of 3/31/2026), presented at the April 20, 2026 BOE meeting. Function-level rollup aggregated from NYSED State Function subtotals on PDF pages 1-11.

About this chart. Total reflects current appropriation as of March 31, 2026: initial FY 2025-26 budget of $56,092,979 plus $33,971 in Board-approved mid-year adjustments = $56,126,950. Function categories follow the NYSED Uniform System of Accounts (General Support = 1010-1989, Instruction = 2010-2999, Pupil Transportation = 5510-5599, Community Service = 7140-7310, Employee Benefits = 9010-9089, Debt Service = 9710-9799, Interfund Transfers = 9901-9999). Food Service is a separate fund (Fund C, School Lunch Fund) and is not included in the General Fund total. Federal grants — Title I, IDEA, ESEA, USDA — flow through the Special Aid Fund (Fund F), also not included here.

Where the Revenue Comes From

FY 2025-26 General Fund · total $56,092,979

Source: Ogdensburg City SD, March 2026 Revenue Status Report, presented at the April 20, 2026 BOE meeting

The Budget Is Balanced by Drawing on Reserves

This is account 9599.000 ("Appropriated Fund Balance") in the General Fund — the dollar amount of fund balance the district plans to consume in the current year to balance the budget. In effect, expenditures are $4.24M higher than the district expects to receive from external sources (taxes, state aid, federal aid, charges).

As of June 30, 2025 (per the FY 24-25 closing trial balance presented to the Board on November 17, 2025), the General Fund's unassigned fund balance is $69,896 — approximately 0.1% of the FY 25-26 budget. The remaining General Fund balance is held in specific reserves (tax certiorari, retirement contributions, capital, employee benefits) or already assigned to balance the FY 25-26 budget.

For context: NY Real Property Tax Law § 1318 caps unassigned fund balance at 4% of next year's budget (about $2.24M for the current year). The district is well under that ceiling. The NY State Comptroller's Fiscal Stress Monitoring System uses the same 4% threshold from the other direction — districts with unassigned balance below 4% may be flagged as fiscally stressed.

The 2026-27 proposed budget on the June 16 ballot increases total spending by $2.1M over the current year, which would likely increase the reserve draw further unless aid or local revenue grows correspondingly.

Thirty-one-year fund balance trajectory

Source: NY State Comptroller, Financial Data for Local Governments (annual ST-3 filings, 1995-2025), account A8029 'Fund Balance — End of Year' for the General Fund (Fund A)

Three eras visible in 31 years of audited OSC data: From FY 1994-95 through FY 2008-09, the General Fund balance averaged about $1.8M and never exceeded $2.4M. From FY 2009-10 through FY 2018-19 it ranged $3.5M-$5.7M (averaging ~$4.5M). Beginning FY 2019-20, federal pandemic relief (American Rescue Plan / ESSER) and four consecutive years of flat property tax levies (FY 2021-22 through FY 2024-25) drove the balance to a peak of $17.65M at the close of FY 2021-22 — about 9× the 1995-2009 average. Since the peak, the district has drawn it back to $7.7M at the close of FY 2024-25. The dashed segment at the right edge is the FY 2025-26 projected closing balance ($3,470,645 = audited FY 24-25 closing of $7,707,905 minus the $4,237,260 the district appropriated from fund balance to balance the FY 25-26 budget). The projection would still be above the 1995-2009 historical norm but back to roughly the 2013 level.

Recent fiscal-year detail

Drawdown detail for the three most recent fiscal years (the steep down-slope on the chart above):

Three-year fund balance trajectory: $15.0M (7/1/2023) → $3.5M (projected 6/30/2026). Total drawdown across the three fiscal years: $11.53M.

Sources: FY 23-24 Annual External Audit Report (Schedule of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balance); FY 24-25 General Fund Trial Balance (Cycle 99, presented November 17, 2025 BOE meeting; mirrored copy); FY 25-26 figure from March 2026 Revenue Status Report.

What the District has stated about this trajectory

The District's only published written framing of the 2026-27 fiscal picture appears in an eight-slide presentation titled "Elementary Reorganization," presented by Superintendent Kevin Kendall at the February 9, 2026 Board of Education meeting (mirrored copy). Slide 5, headed "Fiscal Sustainability," contains three boxes reading verbatim:

Budget Deficit. "The 2026-2027 budget has a projected deficit of $2.54 million."

Foundation Aid. "Foundation Aid is projected to increase by only 1%, or $220,000."

Tax Levy. "Without restructuring, current programming will substantiate an increase of 20%."

The reconfiguration that deck describes — Madill Elementary as a UPK–1 Primary School and John F. Kennedy as a Grade 2–6 Intermediate School — was formally approved by the Board on March 30, 2026 (BOE Minutes, Report 5: "RESOLVED… the Board of Education of the Ogdensburg City School District does hereby approve the above resolution to reconfigure grade levels among elementary buildings"; moved by Testani, supported by Loffler, all present voting aye). The deck does not state a projected dollar savings from the reconfiguration.

At the May 6, 2026 Public Hearing on the proposed 2026-27 budget, the minutes record the Superintendent's remarks on the purpose of the hearing as: "The district has done extensive work with the Elementary reorganization and adjustments to staff and programming. This results in 1 less science elective each semester and maintains the Athletic Program. The district proposed in 6 previous years and this year there is a 3.99% increase proposed in this budget."

Sources: February 9, 2026 Elementary Reorganization presentation; March 30, 2026 BOE Minutes; May 6, 2026 Public Hearing Minutes.

Year-over-Year Trends

Budget growth

Source: Ogdensburg City SD Budget Archive

Tax levy was flat for 4 consecutive years (2021-22 through 2024-25). The first increase since at least 2021-22 came in 2025-26.

Enrollment and educator FTE

Enrollment runs in the 1,300–1,600 range; FTE in the 160–200 range. Plotting both on one axis flattens the FTE trend visually, so each is shown separately below at its own scale.

K-12 enrollment

Source: Student enrollment (students_k12): NYSED Enrollment Data (data.nysed.gov/enrollment.php). FTE Educators: NYSED Personnel Master File Standard Statistical Runs (data totals derived from district-level personnel filings — broader definition than §07's Classroom Teachers FTE, including special education staff, reading specialists, librarians, counselors, and other NYSTRS-reporting positions).

FTE Educators

Source: Student enrollment (students_k12): NYSED Enrollment Data (data.nysed.gov/enrollment.php). FTE Educators: NYSED Personnel Master File Standard Statistical Runs (data totals derived from district-level personnel filings — broader definition than §07's Classroom Teachers FTE, including special education staff, reading specialists, librarians, counselors, and other NYSTRS-reporting positions).

K-12 enrollment declined from 1,601 in 2012-13 to 1,298 in 2024-25 (a 19% decrease). Total educator FTE rose from 161 to a peak of 200 in 2022-23 (a 24% increase from the 2012-13 baseline) and has since declined to 194 in 2024-25 (about 20% above the baseline).

Per-pupil cost — total General Fund expenditure vs payroll

Source: Payroll dollars: SeeThroughNY Payrolls Database (Empire Center), cross-referenced to district audits where available. General Fund expenditure: NYS Comptroller Annual Financial Report (ST-3) filings, sum of all A-prefix EXPENDITURE rows for Ogdensburg City School District. Enrollment: NYSED Enrollment Data, year=<calendar+1>.

Per-pupil total General Fund expenditure rose from $20,279 in 2012-13 to $40,000 in 2024-25 — a 97% increase. Per-pupil payroll grew 72% over the same period ($8,607 to $14,770). Per-pupil non-payroll spending (benefits, debt service, supplies, transportation, BOCES contracts, etc.) accounted for $11,672 of the per-pupil total in 2012-13 and $25,230 in 2024-25, a 116% increase. In total dollars, General Fund expenditure grew 60% ($32.5M to $51.9M) while payroll grew 39% ($13.8M to $19.2M); enrollment declined 19% over the period.

Regional Peer Comparison

FY 2024-25

Ogdensburg compared to three nearby St. Lawrence County districts of similar scale — Potsdam Central, Massena Central, and Canton Central. Fiscal figures are pulled directly from each district's audited Annual Financial Report (ST-3) filed with the New York State Comptroller for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025; enrollment, demographics, and classroom-teacher counts are from NYSED's 2024-25 reporting.

Enrollment, staffing, and demographics

About this table. Enrollment and demographic counts are as of BEDS Day (the first Wednesday in October 2024), per NYSED's Student Information Repository System. "Classroom Teachers (FTE)" is the NYSED-reported teacher FTE in classroom-instructional roles — this is a narrower denominator than §06's total FTE Educators figure, which includes special-education staff, reading specialists, librarians, counselors, and other NYSTRS-reporting non-classroom positions. Both definitions are valid; the difference is who is counted.

General Fund operations

Revenue composition

Federal aid note. The Federal Aid column above shows General Fund receipts only (account A4xxx — primarily Medicaid reimbursement). Most federal grant money — Title I, IDEA, ESEA, USDA child nutrition — flows through each district's Special Aid Fund. FY 2024-25 Special Aid Fund federal receipts (account F4xxx): Ogdensburg $1,568,034, Potsdam $1,223,654, Massena $2,652,069, Canton $759,717.

Fund balance position, June 30, 2025

Reading this row. Total Fund Balance is the audited closing balance (account A8029). It decomposes into Unassigned (A917 — "free" reserves, capped at 4% of next year's budget by RPTL §1318), Restricted Reserves (locked by board action to specific purposes — capital, retirement, tax certiorari, employee benefits, etc.), and Appropriated (A914 — committed to balance next year's budget). A small residual on each row reflects Assigned Unappropriated balance (A915) not broken out here. Massena's $38.4M restricted-reserves pool — far larger than the other three — drives most of Massena's high total fund balance.

Classroom teacher salary distribution, 2024-25

Reading this table. Each percentile is the salary at which that share of full-time classroom teachers in the district earn less. The 95th percentile is the salary at which 95% earn less and 5% earn more. The $100,000 threshold falls within or above the 95th percentile in every district in this set. The NYSED Personnel Master File publishes the same data for principals (typically median $99K-$121K) and central administration (typically $106K-$187K) — see the source file for those roles.

Methodology. Fiscal figures (revenue, expenditure, fund balance) are pulled directly from each district's audited Annual Financial Report (ST-3) filed with the NYS Comptroller for FY 2024-25 (period 7/1/2024 through 6/30/2025; snapshot dated April 30, 2026). General Fund (A-prefix accounts) only. Federal aid is shown separately for the General Fund (A4xxx — primarily Medicaid) and the Special Aid Fund (F4xxx — Title I, IDEA, ESEA, USDA child nutrition). State Aid is the sum of all A3xxx revenue accounts. Restricted Reserves sum A815/A827/A828/A864/A867/A878 (unemployment, retirement, TRS, tax certiorari, employee benefits, capital). Enrollment and demographic figures are from NYSED's 2024-25 Enrollment Data (data.nysed.gov/enrollment.php, year=2025), counted as of BEDS Day (first Wednesday in October 2024). Classroom Teacher FTE is from NYSED's 2024-25 Student and Educator Report (data.nysed.gov/studenteducator.php, year=2025); this is a narrower denominator than §06's total FTE Educators count, which includes special education staff, librarians, counselors, and other NYSTRS-reporting non-classroom positions. Ogdensburg is the only city school district in this comparison set; the other three are central school districts.

Sources: NYS Comptroller — Financial Data for Local Governments (ST-3), FY 2024-25 filings (period 7/1/2024 - 6/30/2025), snapshot dated 2026-04-30 — for all fiscal figures; NYSED Personnel Master File Standard Statistical Run 2024-25 — for the salary percentiles above. Municipal codes: Ogdensburg 400538000000, Potsdam 400668400200, Massena 400651900100, Canton 400612500100.

What's Driving Costs

The structural problem is not declining state aid — the 31-year state aid trajectory below shows aid growing from $14.9M in FY 1994-95 to $34.3M in FY 2024-25, with no sustained decline (only a brief 2009-12 dip following the 2008 state fiscal crisis). The squeeze is expenditure growth (primarily employee benefits) outpacing flat-to-slow local revenue growth, with the gap absorbed by reserve drawdown. State aid revenue components through Q3 FY 25-26 (per the April 20, 2026 BOE packet): lottery at 102% of annual budget, sports betting at 113%, commercial gaming at 88% — all on pace to meet or exceed budgeted amounts.

State Aid — 31-year trajectory

Source: NY State Comptroller, Financial Data for Local Governments (annual ST-3 filings, 1995-2025). Sum of A3xxx revenue accounts for Ogdensburg City School District General Fund.

Total General Fund State Aid grew from $14.9M in FY 1994-95 to $34.3M in FY 2024-25 — roughly 130% in nominal dollars over 30 years, or about 2.9% per year compounded. Foundation Aid (the basic per-pupil formula payment) accounts for roughly 75% of the total in any given year. The series shows year-over-year fluctuations but no sustained decline: the only multi-year dip is the period FY 2009-10 through FY 2011-12 (the post-2008 state fiscal crisis), after which growth resumed.

Employees earning $100,000 or more — peer trend

Source: SeeThroughNY Payrolls Database (Empire Center), NYSTRS-Educator records, queried 2026-05-27. Counts represent employees whose total reported earnings (YTDPay) at the district met or exceeded $100,000 in the named calendar year. SeeThroughNY uses two agency-name variants over the time series — long form ("Ogdensburg City School District", "Potsdam Central Schools", etc.) for calendar years 2008-2020 and short form ("Ogdensburg City SD", "Potsdam CSD", etc.) for 2021 onward; counts include both.

Source publishes through calendar year 2024. Across the 17-year window, counts of $100K+ earners rose in all four peer districts. Ogdensburg moved from 3 (2008) to 23 (2024), Potsdam from 1 to 6, Massena from 2 to 11, Canton from 1 to 9. All four districts show a step-change beginning in calendar year 2022.

What Happens June 16

What's Public, What Isn't

Publicly available

• District Budget & Finance page (ogdensburgk12.org/budget-finance/)
• FY 2023-24 audited financial statements
• 2024-25 Property Tax Report Card
• BOE meeting agendas and minutes (boe.ogdensburgk12.org)
• Voter results
• NYS Comptroller Audit — Medicaid Reimbursements (2022M-52)
• March 2026 Revenue Status Report (April 20, 2026 BOE packet)
• March 2026 Budget Status Report (April 20, 2026 BOE packet)

Not yet publicly posted, as of 2026-05-27

Each item on this list was re-checked against the district's Fiscal Transparency page on the date above.

• FY 2024-25 audited financial statements — accepted by Board October 22, 2025; not yet posted to public Fiscal Transparency page
• 2025-26 Property Tax Report Card (filed with NYSED April 2025)
• 2026-27 Property Tax Report Card (filed pre-vote)
• Corrective Action Plan referenced as Staff Report-8, October 22, 2025

These documents may be obtainable via FOIL request (see below).

The re-vote

The Re-Vote scheduled for June 16, 2026 presents the same proposed budget that, per the Board's adopted Re-Vote Staff Report-1, "was not approved by the voters at the Annual Meeting and General Election" on May 19, 2026. The same Staff Report records that the Board "wishes to present the budget to the voters again, as is authorized by the Education Law." Proposed spending: $58,228,386; tax levy: $11,295,663 (+3.99% from FY 25-26). The budget has not been revised between votes.

Source: BOE Re-Vote Staff Report-1 (signed by Superintendent May 26, 2026).

How to request additional documents

Public records requests are made under the New York State Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), filed with the District Clerk:

• District main number: (315) 393-0900
• Address: as listed on ogdensburgk12.org
• Identify the documents requested and the requestor's contact information.

The District is required by NY Public Officers Law § 87 to designate a Records Access Officer (RAO) who handles FOIL requests; the District Clerk is the standard FOIL contact. Response timelines: acknowledgment within 5 business days; full response typically within 20 business days.

Sources & Methodology

Every figure on this page is traceable to a primary document. Mirror copies of primary district PDFs are kept under /sources/ so provenance survives upstream link changes.

District Documents

• Ogdensburg City SD — Budget & Finance page
• Ogdensburg City SD — Fiscal Transparency page
• 2024 Annual External Audit Report (covers FY 2023-24, year ending 6/30/2024)
  Authoritative source for §08 Employee Benefits ($14,017,301 FY 23-24), OPEB Liability ($98,877,496), Federal Operating Grants ($4,969,568), and debt service ($5,060,266) figures. PDF is large (36MB scanned); not mirrored locally due to file size — Google Drive link is the canonical reference.
• 2023 Annual External Audit Report (covers FY 2022-23, year ending 6/30/2023) · mirrored copy
  Source for FY 22-23 OPEB Liability ($96,695,962) and FY 22-23 Operating Grants ($6,505,685, peak ESSER year).
• 2022 Annual External Audit Report (covers FY 2021-22, year ending 6/30/2022) · mirrored copy
  Source for FY 21-22 OPEB Liability ($110,519,922 — peak in the 5-year series).
• 2021 Annual External Audit Report (covers FY 2020-21, year ending 6/30/2021) · mirrored copy
  Source for FY 20-21 OPEB Liability ($106,406,464).
• 2020 Annual External Audit Report (covers FY 2019-20, year ending 6/30/2020) · mirrored copy
  Source for FY 19-20 OPEB Liability ($74,682,017 — low in the 5-year series).
• 2024-25 Property Tax Report Card · mirrored copy
• March 2026 Revenue Status Report · as of 2026-04-20 · mirrored copy
• March 2026 Budget Status Report · as of 2026-04-20 · mirrored copy
• June 2025 Trial Balances (FY 24-25 closing; Cycle 99) · as of 2025-11-17 · mirrored copy
  All seven funds (General, School Lunch, Special Aid, Capital, Permanent, Debt Service, Long Term Debt); printed by Kaleb Bertrand November 7, 2025; presented at November 17, 2025 BOE meeting

BOE Meeting Records

• 2025-26 BOE Meeting Archive
• April 20, 2026 packet
• November 17, 2025 packet (June 2025 trial balances)
• October 22, 2025 meeting (FY 24-25 audit acceptance)
• May 26, 2026 Re-Vote Folder
• February 9, 2026 Elementary Reorganization Presentation · as of 2026-02-09 · mirrored copy
  Eight-slide deck presented by Superintendent at the February 9, 2026 Board meeting. Slide 5 names a $2.54M projected 2026-27 deficit, a 1% Foundation Aid increase, and the District's tax-levy alternative without restructuring. The reconfiguration the deck describes was formally approved by the Board on March 30, 2026. Mirror is a 3MB JPEG re-render of the 14MB original.
• 2026-2027 Proposed Budget (presented at May 6, 2026 Public Hearing) · as of 2026-05-06 · mirrored copy
  46-page line-item budget for FY 2026-27. Total budget $58,228,386 (+3.81% from FY 25-26 $56,092,979). Page 7 (Capital Budget table) is the source for the Debt Payments Principal & Interest line item ($4,641,900 → $5,864,631).
• March 30, 2026 BOE Meeting Minutes · as of 2026-03-30
  Report 5 records the Board's unanimous approval of the elementary grade-level reconfiguration: 'RESOLVED... the Board of Education... does hereby approve the above resolution to reconfigure grade levels among elementary buildings on this 30th day of March 2026.' Moved by Testani, supported by Loffler.
• District announcement — Voters Reject Ogdensburg City School District Budget Proposal · as of 2026-05-20 · mirrored copy
  Official District announcement published the morning after the May 19 vote. Records budget result (301-329), transportation proposition result (307-317), BOE election results (Grizzuto 480, McRoberts 522), and the District's framing of the bus fleet: 'The district's current vehicles are no longer under warranty.' Also states the District's contingent-budget impact figure: 'a contingent budget... would require the district to reduce spending by $648,500.' Mirror is a captured PDF snapshot.
• Re-Vote Staff Report-1 (Resolution to Adopt the 2026-2027 Budget) · as of 2026-05-26 · mirrored copy
  Signed by Superintendent; quoted verbatim in §10 ('was not approved by the voters at the Annual Meeting and General Election').
• Re-Vote Staff Report-2 (Designation of Polling Place for Budget Revote) · as of 2026-05-26 · mirrored copy
  Designates Ogdensburg Free Academy as the single polling place under Education Law § 2604.
• Re-Vote Staff Report-3 (Setting Date for Special Meeting - Canvass of Budget Revote) · as of 2026-05-26 · mirrored copy
  Sets the canvass meeting for Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 6:00 PM. Confirms that the Re-Vote agenda covers only the budget — no transportation proposition is on the June 16 ballot.

State Sources

• NYSED District Profile — Ogdensburg City SD
• NYSED Enrollment Data — Ogdensburg City SD
• NYS Comptroller Audit — Medicaid Reimbursements (2022M-52) · mirrored copy
• NYS Comptroller — Financial Data for Local Governments (ST-3 annual filings, 1995–2025) · as of 2026-04-30
  Authoritative single-source dataset of every NY school district's annual financial reports (ST-3), 31 years available (1995–2025). Used for the 31-year General Fund balance trajectory in §05 (account A8029) and for §07's peer-comparison financial metrics (FY 2024-25 General Fund operations, revenue composition, and fund balance position for all four districts). Ogdensburg's MUNICIPAL_CODE is 400538000000; peer codes: Potsdam Central 400668400200, Massena Central 400651900100, Canton Central 400612500100.

Third-Party Aggregators

• SeeThroughNY Payrolls Database (Empire Center)
  Corroborating data; primary source for district payroll is the audited financials
• govsalaries.com — Ogdensburg City Schools
• Ballotpedia — Ogdensburg City School District
• NCES Common Core of Data

Local News (Transportation History)

• Ogdensburg school district approves 5-year bus contract (Watertown Daily Times / nny360) · as of 2018-05-04
  May 2018: Board approved 5-year transportation service contract with First Student, $6,837,264 total ($1.16M year 1 to $1.59M year 5). Contract required First Student to purchase three new buses immediately and upgrade its 9-bus dedicated fleet by year 3. District did not operate its own buses under this arrangement.
• Ogdensburg school district propositions include purchase of 12 new school buses (nny360) · as of 2021-05
  May 2021: District proposed and voters approved purchase of 12 new school buses to transition transportation in-house from the prior First Student contract. 90% state aid reimbursement; financed over 5 years. Proposition projected to create 6-10 new in-house transportation jobs. This is the fleet referenced in the May 2026 District announcement as 'no longer under warranty.'

Statutory References

• NY Education Law § 2007 (contingency budget)
• NY Public Officers Law § 87 (FOIL — designated Records Access Officer)
• GASB Statement 68 (Pension Accounting)
• GASB Statement 75 (OPEB Accounting)

Every primary source linked here is also mirrored as a static PDF in /sources/ with a capture date recorded in the entry. Source link rot does not break the site's provenance.