GOWANDA — With New York State’s electric bus mandate still in place, the Gowanda Central School District is pursuing a pilot program to be ready for a future purchase of electric buses down the line.

The district is preparing for the installation of electric bus chargers and design costs for the infrastructure to support two new electric buses. The infrastructure portion of the pilot will be included as part of the district’s 2026-27 school budget proposal.

Based on discussions with engineers and architects involved with electric buses in recent weeks, the district has budgeted for the cost of two new electric bus chargers and installation after rebates, as well as the design itself. The district plans to propose the purchase of two electric buses at a later date, assuming the State’s mandate remains in place. As it stands now, districts statewide will be prohibited from purchasing diesel buses starting on July 1, 2027.

Business Administrator Barb Smith said, “We’ve at least got it budgeted, and we can go from there. I think if we don’t start moving forward with the pilot, we’re going to have a harder time going to the State and saying we can’t do this at all.”

The Board of Education approved its basic operating budget for the 2026-27 school year at its latest meeting.

The total budget amounts to $40,655,630. That is an increase of $1,614,814 from the 2025-26 budget of $39,040,816 – amounting to 4.14%.

The total tax levy will increase from $5,423,318 in 2025-26 to $5,488,398 in 2026-27, if approved by voters in May. The tax levy increase is 1.2%, which is the same increase as the previous budget. State Aid is projected to increase by 2.5%.

A major factor influencing the budget increase is a sizable jump in health insurance costs. Gowanda is not alone in dealing with exorbitant costs for health insurance, which the district estimated at an increase of $570,000 from the previous year, with rates up by 11.5% to 13%.

The district plans to utilize a significant portion of its capital reserve funds to finance its $44.5 million Capital Project approved by voters this past December. The Board approved the transfer of $9.5 million of reserve funds to its Capital Project account.

The district’s adjusted restricted fund balance will drop from over $25 million in 2025-26 to just over $16 million in 2026-27. Its assigned appropriated fund balance will increase from roughly $3.6 million to $3.8 million, while its adjusted unrestricted fund balance will increase from $3.76 million to over $5.5 million.

The annual budget vote will be on Tuesday, May 19, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. in the Middle School Library. Susan Edler will be the Chief Election Inspector, with Lisa Huffman, Nancy Palmer, Mary Jones, Sarah Allen, and Carol Nephew serving as Election Inspectors. They will each receive $175 for their services.