HB 1300 works against Plainfield & Cornish
Plainfield and Cornish don’t need Concord to introduce them to sharing school services. They already share a superintendent and business administrator. They have also established a joint planning team to explore further cooperation.
That is what responsible local government should do: Look for ways to share substantial recurring expenses while protecting education.
HB 1300 takes a different approach. Its November ballot question asks voters to adopt limits on school property-tax growth and cap central-office administration at 6 percent of district appropriations, excluding bonded capital costs.
But a percentage is not an efficiency audit.
Payroll still has to run. Budgets still have to balance. Required financial reporting still has to happen. Small districts have these responsibilities whether they serve hundreds of students or thousands. Sharing the people who perform that work is a practical response.
Before asking Plainfield and Cornish to accept another restriction, supporters should answer a basic question: What specific waste remains, and how much would eliminating it actually save?
Which duplicated position should disappear when the communities already share leadership? Which required responsibility would cost less under this cap? Could the restriction make our existing shared-services arrangement harder to sustain?
Those questions deserve answers before the vote.
I want lower property taxes. That means examining actual expenses, identifying avoidable costs and measuring the results. It also means recognizing communities already doing that work.
HB 1300’s cap does not distinguish between an inefficient operation and a small district with unavoidable costs. Nor does it demonstrate that 6 percent is the right threshold for either.
Plainfield and Cornish should keep pursuing cooperation where it improves education and saves money. We should judge those efforts by their results.
A statewide percentage is no substitute for that work. Vote no on the HB 1300 ballot question.