Public hearing and vote for Bemus Point Central School District budget and board election.

Legal Notices 

BUDGET VOTE AND SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION

BEMUS POINT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

COUNTY OF CHAUTAUQUA, NEW YORK

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing of the qualified voters of the Bemus Point Central School District, Chautauqua County, New York (the “District”) will be held on May 7, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in the Maple Grove Cafeteria, located at 3980 Dutch Hollow Road in Bemus Point, New York, for the presentation of the District’s proposed 2026-2027 fiscal year budget.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual Meeting and Vote (the “Annual Vote”) of the qualified voters of the District will be held in the Maple Grove STEAM Room located at 3980 Dutch Hollow Road in Bemus Point, New York on May 19, 2026, between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. for the purposes of: (i) electing two (2) at-large members of the Board of Education of the District (the “Board”); (ii) voting on the District’s 2025-2026 fiscal year budget; (iii) voting on the purchase of school buses; (iv) voting on the approval of a capital improvements project; and (v) transacting such other business as may be authorized by law.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board will have prepared and completed a detailed statement in writing of the amount of money which will be required during the ensuing 2026-2027 fiscal year for school purposes, specifying the several purposes and the amounts for each. Such statement will be available, upon request, to residents within the District during the hours of 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM from May 5, 2026 to May 19, 2026 (exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) at each of the public schoolhouses of the District.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the qualified voters of the District shall be entitled to vote at the Annual Vote. A qualified voter is one who is (1) a citizen of the United States of America, (2) eighteen (18) years of age or older, and (3) resident within the Bemus Point Central School District for a period of thirty (30) days preceding the Annual Vote. The District may require all persons offering to vote at the budget vote and election to provide one form of proof of residency pursuant to Education Law 2018-c. Such form may include a driver’s license, a non-driver identification card, a utility bill, or a voter registration card. Upon offer of proof of residency, the District may also require all persons offering to vote to provide their signature, printed name and address.

AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that voting at the Annual Vote shall consist of the Board election, voting on the following propositions, and voting on any other propositions that may be authorized by law and the rules of the Board to be voted on at such time:

PROPOSITION NO. 1 – DISTRICT 2026-2027 BUDGET

Shall the following resolution be adopted?

RESOLVED, that the budget for the Bemus Point Central School District (the “District”) for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2026 and ending June 30, 2027, as presented by the Board of Education of the District, is hereby approved and adopted and the required funds therefor are hereby appropriated and the necessary real property taxes required shall be raised by a tax on the taxable property in said District to be levied and collected as required by law.

PROPOSITION NO. 2 – ACQUISITION OF SCHOOL BUSES AND SIMILAR VEHICLES (AND RELATED EQUIPMENT)

Shall the following resolution be adopted?

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of the Bemus Point Central School District, Chautauqua County, New York (the "District"), is hereby authorized to purchase school buses and similar vehicles, including equipment, machinery and apparatus used in connection therewith, for use in the transportation program of the District, at an estimated maximum cost of $365,000 (with such estimated maximum cost reflecting the value of any trade-ins), and the sum of $365,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be raised by the levy of a tax upon the taxable property of the District and all other eligible legal fund sources; and in anticipation of such tax, bonds or other obligations (including, without limitation, obligations arising under leases, lease/purchase contracts or installment purchase contracts) of the District are hereby authorized to be issued in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $365,000 and shall be issued or entered into in accordance with applicable provisions of New York State law, and that New York State Transportation Aid funds expected to be received by the District are anticipated to offset a substantial part of such costs, and such funds, to the extent received, shall be applied to offset and reduce the amount of taxes herein authorized to be levied.

PROPOSITION NO. 3

“CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT, 2026”

Shall the following resolutions be adopted?

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education (the “Board”) of the Bemus Point Central School District, Chautauqua County, New York (the “District”), is hereby authorized to undertake a proposed “Capital Improvements Project, 2026” consisting of the reconstruction, rehabilitation and renovation, in part, and the construction of improvements and upgrades to various District buildings and facilities and the sites thereof (collectively, the “Project”) to implement various health, safety, accessibility and code compliance measures required by the State Education Department in connection with any significant capital improvements project and various other measures that are generally described in (but are not to be limited by) the project plan that has been prepared by the District (with the assistance of Young + Wright Architectural) and that is available for public inspection in the offices of the District Clerk (the “Project Plan”), such work being anticipated to include, without limitation and to the extent as and where required, the elements that are generally described below. The Project is anticipated to include decommissioning the existing wastewater treatment plant and ancillary facilities serving the Maple Grove Jr./Sr. High School, constructing a grinder pump station on the campus and new sanitary pressure sewer main down Dutch Hollow Road to connect to an existing Chautauqua County sanitary sewer approximately two miles southeast of the campus, and roofing upgrades on portions of the Jr./Sr. High School and Bemus Point Elementary School buildings. Additionally, if the budget allows after receiving construction bids, or if other items are identified, additional similar renovations, upgrades, and improvements could be undertaken. All of such work (or so much thereof as can be accomplished within the overall budget for the Project, once the construction bids are received) is to be undertaken at an estimated maximum cost of $2,425,000, and will include the purchase of original furnishings, equipment, machinery, apparatus and pavement restoration required in connection with the purposes for which such buildings, facilities and sites are used, and all ancillary or related work required in connection therewith, and the Board is authorized to expend therefor, including for preliminary costs and costs incidental thereto and in connection with the financing thereof, an amount not to exceed the estimated maximum cost of $2,425,000, provided that the detailed costs of the components of the Project (as generally described in the Project Plan) may be reallocated among such components, or such components may be deleted, revised or supplemented if (1) the Board shall determine that such reallocation, deletion, revision or supplementation is in the best interests of the District and (2) the aggregate amount to be expended for the Project

shall not exceed $2,425,000 and (3) no material change shall be made in the overall scope and nature of the Project; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Board is hereby authorized to expend or apply toward the Project, during the current fiscal year of the District, $500,000 from the District’s Capital Improvements Reserve Fund that was established in May of 2021 and if applicable, additional grant monies; and be it further

RESOLVED, that a tax is hereby voted to finance the balance of the estimated maximum cost of the Project in an amount not to exceed $1,925,000, such tax to be levied and collected in installments in such years and in such amounts as shall be determined by the Board; and be it further

RESOLVED, that in anticipation of such tax, obligations of the District (including, without limitation, serial bonds, statutory installment bonds, bond anticipation notes, and/or lease-purchase obligations) are hereby authorized to be issued in an aggregate principal amount that is not to exceed $1,925,000, and a tax is hereby voted to pay the interest on such obligations as the same shall become due and payable; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the New York State Building Aid funds that are expected to be received by the District are anticipated to offset a substantial par