Windsor to Vote Today on School and Town Budget Proposals

Windsor  — About 70 residents attended the informational meeting on Monday night for the town and school warnings, but no one commented on the proposed spending which if approved during all-day balloting today would result in a slight decrease in the homestead tax rate.

The only question was on a $5,000 appropriation for the Windsor Resource Center, which is a new request this year.

Town Manager Tom Marsh said the money helps support the center’s services, which include adult education, counseling, job training, crisis fuel assistance and income tax preparation for residents of Windsor and surrounding towns.

The town budget of $4.8 million represents an increase of about 4 percent from this year. When appropriations for agencies and the library are added in, it brings total town spending to around $5 million.

The proposed school budget of $8.4 million represents a nearly 15 percent decrease from this year, primarily because of changes in how the supervisory union calculates assessments for the union’s four school districts.

School Board Vice Chairman Carl Malikowski told residents gathered in the Lois White auditorium at the high school that an increase in tuition revenue left the district with a budget surplus of $524,000. Of that amount, $400,000 will be used as revenue for next year and $124,000 is recommended for the schools capital reserve fund under a separate article.

Board Chairman Amy McMullen spoke briefly about the supervisory union’s goal to meet the requirements under Act 46, Vermont’s school consolidation law.

The committee of board members and residents in the four towns has come up with four options that will be presented at forums, beginning with Weathersfield at 6 p.m. on Monday at the school, followed by West Windsor on March 23, Hartland on March 28 and Windsor on April 3.

One of the plans, a unified school district, would end school choice for Hartland, Weathersfield and West Windsor. Two other plans leave the union as it is, but approval would require legislative action and/or state board of education approval, McMullen said. A fourth choice would combine Windsor and West Windsor in a single district, ending choice for West Windsor, and combine Hartland and Weathersfield in a pre-K-8 district with high school choice.

Voting today is 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the municipal building on Union Street.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.