#Middlebury #Region15 #BudgetHearing
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
Regional School District 15 will have its proposed 2018-2019 budget hearing Monday, April 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pomperaug High School (PHS) AP Room, while the Town of Middlebury will have its annual budget hearing Tuesday, April 3, in the Larkin Room at the Middlebury Public Library at 30 Crest Road. Please note the change in venue for Middlebury’s meeting, which has been held at the firehouse in recent years. This year, head for the library!
Following the public comment portion of the Region 15 hearing, the Board of Education (BoE) will vote to adopt its budget. As of March 26, two different proposed 2018-2019 budget totals had been presented at BoE meetings. The first was $69.4 million, a 2.78-percent increase over the current budget, which was presented to the BoE by Superintendent of Schools Regina L. Botsford at the board’s Feb. 26 meeting.
The BoE then conducted budget workshops March 14 and 21 and presented the results of those workshops at its March 26 meeting. The board-proposed budget totals $69.1 million, which is 2.41-percent more than the current budget.
Middlebury and Southbury taxpayers offered public comments on the budget at the regular BoE meetings and the budget workshops. April 2 will be their final opportunity to comment on the budget before the BoE votes to accept a 2018-2019 budget.
Readers will find Botsford’s budget presentation on the Region 15 website home page at www.Region15.org, and we believe the BoE proposed budget also will be posted there although we did not find it there at press time.
No matter what budget number gets approved April 2, Middlebury’s portion of the Region 15 budget will increase. That is because, while overall enrollment dropped by 110 students, Middlebury’s enrollment dropped by only 14 students while Southbury’s enrollment dropped by 96 students. This resulted in Middlebury’s percentage increasing by a bit more than half a percent to 32.4711 percent compared to 31.8910 percent in the current year and Southbury dropping by the same percentage to 67.5289 percent for 2018-2019 from 68.1090 percent in the current year.
During the BoE’s March 26 presentation, Botsford noted the staffing plan changes in her February budget presentation have had to be adjusted. Additional kindergarten registration since February requires adding one section each at Gainfield and Pomperaug Elementary Schools, and the district also found an enrollment decline that allows the elementary general music classes to be taught by three rather than four teachers. Botsford said orchestra will not be cut or reduced. These two changes resulted in an FTE increase of 1.6 compared to the increase of 0.6 presented by Botsford in February
Tuesday, April 3, the Middlebury Board of Finance will present the proposed 2018-2019 town budget of $10.9 million. This is 2.14 percent higher than the current budget of $10.6 million. To see a PDF of the legal notice for this budget, click here.
When First Selectman Edward B. St. John first presented a proposed 2018-2019 town budget, the proposed school district budget was unknown. He said the increase in the town budget was small enough that the town’s mil rate would not increase as long as the Region 15 budget did not increase.
Since then, of course, we have seen two proposed Region 15 budgets, both of which have increases of more than 2 percent. Provided the Region 15 budget passes at the Wednesday, May 2, referendum, it appears Middlebury’s mil rate will increase.
St. John provided a handout comparing increases in the town budget versus increases in the Regional School District 15 budget over the past 12 years. It shows a fiscal year 2005-2006 town budget of just under $10 million, which represented 42 percent of overall spending (town budget plus the town’s share of the school district budget). Twelve years later, the town’s budget of $10.6 million is 6.2 percent higher than it was in 2005-2006, and it now represents 33 percent of overall spending.
In the same time period, the town’s portion of the school budget increased 56 percent and is now 67 percent of total spending. The cost per student has risen to $18,023 for 2017-2018 from $11,233 per student in 2005-2006, an increase of 60.4 percent. Meanwhile, per capita spending for town residents has decreased to $1,360 from $1,431 in 2005-2006, a 5 percent total decrease.
