The results of Gowanda Central School District’s Annual Meeting and Board of Education election held May 20, 2025, are:
Board Elections: All qualified voters may vote on the two (2) available seats. All seats are for three (3) year terms commencing on July 1, 2025 and expiring on June 30, 2028.
- John Y. Waterman Jr: ELECTED [214 total votes]
- Brandon Newell: [60 total votes]
- Brittney Olszewski: ELECTED [220 total votes]
Proposition No. 1 – 2025-26 Basic Budget: PASSED: [ YES – 77%; NO – 23% ]
- Authorizes the Gowanda Central School District to expend $39,040,816 for the 2025-26 fiscal year and to levy and collect the necessary real property taxes on taxable property in the District.
Proposition No. 2 – Vehicle Purchases from Reserve Fund: PASSED: [YES – 83%; NO – 17% ]
- Authorizes the Gowanda Central School District to purchase four (4) sixty-six (66) passenger school buses and one (1) thirty (30) passenger bus for use in the transportation program of the District, at a total estimated maximum cost of $777,695.05. Such cost will be funded through the expenditure or application of monies from the District’s Vehicle Purchase Reserve Fund without creating the need to borrow. This purchase shall have NO effect on the District’s tax rate for the 2025-26 school year.
Proposition No. 3 – Funding of the Repair Reserve Fund: PASSED: [YES – 82%; NO – 18% ]
- Authorizes the Gowanda Central School District to transfer $1,250,000 (during the 2024-2025 fiscal year of the District) from the unassigned fund balance of the District to the District’s Repair Reserve Fund which is to be operated pursuant to General Municipal Law Section 6-d for the purpose of financing the cost of non-recurring repairs to District capital improvements and equipment. This addition shall have NO effect on the District’s tax rate for the 2025-26 school year.
Proposition No. 4—Local Library Appropriation: PASSED: [YES – 84%; NO -16% ]
- Authorizes the annual appropriation for the operation of the Gowanda Free Library be increased from $60,180 to $61,383.60 and that the Board of Education of the Gowanda Central School District, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Erie Counties, New York, be authorized to levy the necessary taxes therefor. This increase shall have NO effect on the District’s tax rate for the 2025-26 school year. The Library Tax is a separate tax and the District acts as a pass through agency.