Compare two tax levy scenarios for the 2026-27 school budget.
The board is weighing the originally adopted budget against a reduced-levy alternative. Pick a scenario and your home value to see the impact.
Choose a scenario to see your tax impact
Drag the slider or type any value from $50,000 to $1,000,000.
STAR exemption
Reduces the taxable value used to calculate your school tax
-
Annual school tax change+$64.00/yearBased on +$0.32 per $1,000vs. current school tax
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Monthly equivalent+$5.33/monthAnnual change ÷ 12vs. current school tax
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Weekly equivalent+$1.23/weekAnnual change ÷ 52vs. current school tax
| Home value Taxable |
Current school tax Rate $11.94 |
New school tax Rate $12.26 |
Annual change | Monthly change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $200,000 Taxable $200,000 |
$2,388.00 | $2,452.00 | +$64.00 | +$5.33 |
Side-by-side: annual change for $200,000 home
-
Proposed2.69%+$64.00/ year
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Reduced1.50%+$36.00/ year
Both scenarios still increase the levy versus 2025-26 — the reduced option simply increases it by less.
2026 Ranking
#1
of 50 WNY ZIP codes
Buffalo Business First · May 22, 2026
Grand Island (14072) is the most stable neighborhood in Western New York.
Buffalo Business First's instability index ranks the 50 most populous ZIP codes in WNY using poverty, dropout, and housing-vacancy rates. Grand Island earned the lowest instability score in the region: 9.56.
- 4.33% Poverty rate
- 4.08% Dropout rate
- 1.16% Housing vacancy
“In a stable neighborhood, your investment is likely to build equity, giving you more options if you decide to sell and move on.”
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 American Community Survey (5-year) · Analysis by Buffalo Business First.
2026-27 budget at a glance
- Total budget
- $81,685,805
- Adopted spending plan
- Per-pupil spending
- $21,537
- vs NY average $30,000+
- State aid increase
- +$1.22M
- Greater than the levy increase
- Administrative spending
- Down 1.94%
- Year over year