NEWPORT — The School Board voted Thursday to send a $22.9 million proposed operating budget to the Budget Advisory Committee, but did so with the expectation cuts will have to be made to win approval from voters at the annual school meeting in March.
The budget represents a $2.4 million, or 11.2% increase, from the school year’s spending plan.
As presented, it would increase the school tax rate by an estimated $3.93 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Rising costs of health insurance, salaries and contracted services for special education make up the bulk of the increase, SAU 43 Business Administrator Kate O’Connor said.
“We can approve this tonight as it is and still make cuts,” board member Melissa Mitchler said before the board vote on the budget.
Mitchler noted that the board will have opportunities to make cuts both at a Jan. 8 public hearing and at a deliberative session on Jan. 31.
“If we approve this now, it is not done, not written in stone,” she said.
Board members expressed frustration at their predicament of having to decide on a steep tax increase or budget cuts.
“We have a difficult job trying to make this a palatable document for everybody,” Board member Keith Sayer said.
Sayer said most taxpayers won’t take the time to actually look closely at the budget and understand why it is increasing so much, but instead will only see their taxes going up.
Higher health insurance premiums — for both medical and dental — are the biggest driver of the budget increase, O’Connor said before Thursday’s vote. Not only are rates across the state increasing 20% or more, but in Newport there are more staff using the insurance and more employees.
Newport switched to SchoolCare and when that happened a lot of staff moved their insurance, O’Connor said.
Additionally, O’Connor said the district has about 20 new employees, many of whom were among the 19 new hires for whom the Claremont School Board voted not to approve contracts just before school started in August. The combination has resulted in a 22% increase in health insurance for the district.
Other big parts of the increase are the second years of a four-year contract for teachers ($208,000) and a three-year contract for support staff ($79,900), which were approved last year.
In order to win voter approval for the contracts last March, the board made other budget cuts in areas including transportation, facilities and technology, O’Connor said. The proposed budget for next year includes increases in those areas.
The board recognized that the projected tax increase would likely not get voter approval but was uncertain what else could be cut to reduce the tax increase. The board already cut $300,000 from the administration’s proposal and made more cuts Thursday.
One suggestion, though it was not acted upon, was to give the administration a bottom-line figure to cut and then recommend to the board where the reductions could be made.
The proposed default budget — the fallback should voters reject the board’s proposed budget — of $22.56 million is up $1.9 million, or 9.27%, from this year and would add $3.17 to the school tax rate.
Selectboard member Jeff Kessler urged the board to talk to the Budget Advisory Committee at the committee’s Dec. 11 meeting.
“Tell them, this is where we are today and you get them to help you look through it,” Kessler said. “Take advantage of the BAC and their input and let them support you.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.