Here is proposed budget and tax data for the Newburgh School District, excerpted from 2008 Property Tax Report Card Data (Part I - Budget, Levy and Enrollment):

There are lots of caveats regarding this data. It is self-reported and neither audited nor verified. For full info see the disclaimer at the NYSED site.

On May 20 New York State Schools hold budget votes and elections for open Board of Education positions.

Unlike the Newburgh Enlarged Central School District several nearby districts have involved the public in budget planning and have presented information to the public well in advance of submitting a budget to be voted upon.

The Cornwall Central School District established a School Budget Advsory Committee "to solicit community feedback regarding the budget process". They have held public meetings with well detailed minutes.

The Enlarged City School District of Middletown has put the slides from three budget presentations from February and March online.

The Washingtonville Central School District has their proposed 2008-09 budget online in both summary and line item formats as well as two budget presentations from February and one from March.

This may be a tough year to get voter approval of budgets. Getting the public involved, allowing and answering questions, and providing information freely probably improve the likelihood of approval.

The New York State Department of Tax and Finance has information about the 2007 Middle Class STAR Rebate Program.

Here are the expected rebate amounts for Newburgh School District taxpayers as reported by that site:

Property tax payers in the Newburgh School Distrct should have already received mail from the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance with a form explaining how to receive the rebate.

Hat tip to The Hall Monitor blog.

If you pay your Newburgh Enlarged City School District taxes via a mortgage escrow account you may be surprised at the amount of the payment to be made for taxes due October 5.

Because the School Board voted to impose a one dollar fee to pay in three installments, many financing companies will no longer allow you the option of paying by installments. Instead, you may be charged the entire year's taxes as a lump sum.

If you get billed and pay your taxes directly, you should have the option to pay in three installments. Your bank may allow you to change from an escrow based school tax payment to direct payments. You will need to keep track of billing and payment yourself, but you will be able to earn interest on your money for several months instead of giving that privilege to the district.