On May 19, Fayetteville-Manlius School District voters approved the district’s $122 million 2026-27 budget proposal, voted to elect three board of education members and approved three other propositions that were on the ballot.
District-related Propositions
- Passed: A $122,496,620 budget for the 2026-27 school year that increases spending 5.22% ($6,077,072) and carries a 3.12% tax levy increase: 1,018 yes; 782 no
- Passed: The purchase of six diesel-powered school buses and two gasoline-powered vans at a total cost not to exceed $1,529,830: 1,034 yes; 760 no
Library Propositions
- Passed: The Manlius Library Tax Levy, $1,548,396: 1,168 yes; 624 no
- Passed: Fayetteville Free Library Tax Levy, $2,172,035: 1,101 yes; 693 no
New York state education law allows libraries to place a funding proposition on school district ballots and requires school districts, at the libraries’ requests, to levy and collect taxes for libraries.
The libraries are separate legal entities from the school district, with their own funding and budget. The amount of the tax levy collected by a school district for a library remains the same each year until the library requests a proposition to change that amount.
The results above do not include 122 absentee ballots; however, they will not change the outcome of the budget vote and three propositions on the ballot.
Board of Education Election
Only two candidates submitted petitions by the 5 p.m. April 20 deadline to have their names placed on the ballot. They are:
- Robert J. Spencer
- Kristen Purcell
Because of the number of write-in candidates, the district was still counting ballots as of 9:45 p.m. May 19 and plans to release the names of the three candidates with the highest vote totals, who will be the three individuals elected to the board, as soon as the board election results are finalized.
The terms for each open seat is three years beginning on July 1.
“We appreciate our residents taking time out of their busy days to head to the polls and vote,” Superintendent Magda Parvey said. “We are pleased that this budget approval will allow us to be able to continue to deliver the programs and services that our students need to compete and be successful in the classroom and beyond.”
The 2026-27 tax levy increase of 3.12% is at the district’s calculated tax levy limit per the state’s property tax levy cap law. The limit does not cap how much a district can raise through property taxes. Instead, it determines at what level a school district must have a supermajority (60 percent) rather than a simple majority (50 percent plus one) approve the budget proposal.
Because F-M proposed a budget with a tax levy increase at its allowable limit, the budget required a simple majority vote for authorization.
More information about the budget and propositions are available at www.fmschools.org/budget-finance.