CLAREMONT — The School Board and administration have stated that this year’s annual School Meeting vote presents a rare opportunity for residents to invest in the school district’s infrastructure and save for capital expenses down the road while also seeing a reduction in the local tax rate.
The reason all three can happen in the same year is because Claremont will receive $2.9 million in “one-time” money in the next fiscal year only, under the state budget passed last July. Of that total, $1.5 million is in the proposed budget for several capital improvement projects including new roofs, repairs to the Dow building where the SAU 6 offices are located, heating and ventilation work, security upgrades and other work on windows, ceilings and floors. Another $1 million is in two proposed new capital reserve funds, $500,000 each, under separate warrant articles for bus repair and replacement and building repair and renovation. The remaining money, about $850,000, would be additional revenue to help offset the tax rate impact in the next two years.
School Board member Jason Benware, who has spoken at public hearings and the deliberative session in support of the budget and capital reserve funds, said this money will allow the district to complete much-needed work that has been put on the “back burner” the last several years because of a lack of funding.
“It makes more sense to invest in what needs to be done rather than have to go back to the taxpayers to fix things,” Benware said. “It is what this money is intended for. When the governor was here (last summer) he said it was for projects we couldn’t do because we did not have the funding.”
Asking voters for money to make repairs or buy buses in subsequent years will also have a tax impact whereas no additional tax dollars are needed for the capital investments and reserve funds on this warrant, the board has said.
The overall budget of $38.2 million includes an operating budget of $34.7 million, an increase of 9.1%, or $2.9 million, with about half of that for the capital investments. Also driving the increase is the first year of a three-years teachers’ contract ($421,000) and four new teachers at the middle school to provide students in grades six through eight with three full years of science and social studies. Benware said the new contract will raise the starting salary for teachers to more than $40,000 at the end of the third year.
“We want to attract and retain good teachers,” Benware said. “This will make starting salaries more comparable to surrounding districts.”
Other articles include collective bargaining agreements under three separate articles for paraprofessionals, secretaries and maintenance and transportation employees.
Non-tax revenues are increasing about $3.8 million and the amount to be raised by taxes is down $1.2 million.
If voters approve all proposed spending, the local school tax rate is projected to decrease 56 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, which translates into a reduction of $84 in school taxes on a home assessed at $150,000. But if the budget and all warrant articles are defeated and the default budget of $35.5 million is implemented, the district estimates a $5.68 decrease in the tax rate.
But Benware warns the rate would go right back up again the following year because the $2.9 million in one-time revenue will not be available.
“I understand people want lower taxes but it is an artificial drop because the next year it will go right back up again, plus the projects won’t get done,” Benware said.
School Board members Frank Sprague and Michael Petrin are running unopposed for three-year terms.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
Voting on the School District budget and other appropriations is Tuesday, March 10, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wards I and II vote at the middle school on South Street. Ward III votes at Disnard Elementary School on Hanover Street.
