Lebanon
Although there are slight staffing changes in the proposed budget, school officials said much of that increase is caused by fixed costs. If approved, the 4 percent increase would bring the operating budget to $40.6 million. Roughly $1 million of that comes from added costs in health care, retirement and union-negotiated salary increases.
“The budget really reflects increases in health care,” Business Administrator Tim Ball said on Tuesday. “Health care went up 11.5 percent.”
The district is proposing few staffing and program changes for the coming year, Ball said. Under the proposal, a few part-time positions could be made full time and there are plans to cut four teaching positions through attrition, but most of the increase will come from essential spending.
The teaching positions include three slots at Lebanon High School and a teacher at Mount Lebanon School.
Because of past collective bargaining agreements, the district is expecting to spend an additional $565,000 in salaries, mainly for teachers. And an increase in contributions to the New Hampshire Retirement System would cost an extra $310,000.
Negotiations with the Lebanon School Staff Association, which are ongoing, aren’t reflected in the budget and the end number there will appear as a separate warrant article in March.
Besides the spending increase, more local revenue also may be needed, according to the district’s projections. About $25.1 million was raised through taxes for the current budget, while roughly $28.1 million is needed for next school year.
The district also intends to use $1 million from the unassigned fund balance to drawn down the tax rate, and will only request $27.1 million from taxpayers for the 2017-18 school year.
Ball told the School Board on Nov. 9 the need for more tax dollars was partially caused by a decrease in tuition money coming from Grantham, and the loss of some of that community’s state adequacy aid, according to meeting minutes.
If both the School Board and voters approve the budget, the district projects that $1.08 per $1,000 of a property’s assessed value would be added to the city’s tax rate. That would cost an additional $270 per year for a homeowner with a house valued at $250,000.
Because the School Board hasn’t settled on a budget to bring to voters, Ball said it’s possible the total proposed operating budget could be decreased. There are a few projects the School Board could choose to fund through capital reserve accounts, he said, and programs it could choose to scale back.
“The board hasn’t weighed in on any of this stuff,” Ball said. “We presented this budget to them and they have to weigh the pros and cons of these things.”
The School Board hopes to make a decision on the budget during its Dec. 14 meeting. Ball said he doesn’t expect board members to make any “earth-shattering” changes when they meet.
School Board Chairwoman Christina Haidari echoed that sentiment in a phone interview on Tuesday.
“The budget process, I think, everyone feels positive about,” Haidari said. “I haven’t heard of any big issues, so right now, I think there probably won’t be any huge changes.”
The district also is planning a community budget forum at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the Lebanon Middle School.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.