Hartford
The decision comes as state officials in Monptelier have warned that total education spending around the state could grow by more than 3.5 percent, even as the number of pupils declines, and that the average property tax rate could rise by 9.4 cents per $100 of valuation, or some 6.2 percent.
“We gave the administration that (6 percent) number to work with,” School Board Chairman Kevin Christie said on Friday. “What he will have to do with his team is come back to us with a balanced budget to that 6 percent.”
Christie said that, even with local taxpayers shouldering more of the school’s $28.9 million general fund budget because of changes to the Education Fund, the superintendent will have to make cuts to his initial requests to hit the target. When DeBalsi presents the final budget draft to the School Board later this month, “he will have a list of what he had to do to get there,” said Christie, who is also a state representative.
“We don’t want to cut our nose off to spite our face so I really applaud you for thinking out of the box and being brave enough to say we’re not going to go with a million-dollar cut to get to the 3 percent that we said we were going to get to,” DeBalsi said during a School Board meeting last Wednesday.
The dramatic change is part of the fallout from a $50 million statewide education funding gap that’s hitting school districts across the state.
“My uninformed opinion is that the state has decided that education is too expensive,” said School Board member Peter Merrill, according to CATV video of the meeting. “And they are manipulating the system to make it even more expensive, so as to force us to reduce things. … It’s not fair. It’s in my opinion egregious. But it’s what we work with.”
Just a month ago, the School Board unanimously agreed to target a 3 percent, or $855,000, general fund spending increase, which, it was thought at the time, would result in a 4.9 percent increase to taxpayers.
But state revenue projections released from the Agency of Education show a much bleaker picture than previously imagined — the amount paid to the Hartford school district from the Education Fund is projected to decrease by nearly $1.7 million, to $2.7 million, though it will also be partially offset in other categories of school aid.
Earlier this month, Burlington school officials told taxpayers there to expect as much as an 11 percent tax increase, while various other school districts are wrestling with how much they might cut from their budgets to avoid passing similar increases on to their local taxpayers.
In an effort to curb traditional spending patterns on K-12 education, Republican Gov. Phil Scott has vowed to fight fees or statewide tax increases that could be used to offset the gap, and has instead suggested that districts should curb spending by laying off staff.
“If we work together to transform our K-through-12 system, based on the needs of our kids and not nostalgia, we can invest much more in early care and learning, technical education, workforce readiness training and higher education without raising the price tag on Vermonters,” Scott said during State of the State address earlier this month.
Hartford is feeling more of a pinch than other districts, because its Common Level of Appraisal has declined, from 98 percent to 96.55, according to district Finance Director James Vezina. The state uses the CLA to equalize property value among districts, and the fact that Hartford’s CLA has gone down reflects findings that the town’s real estate has sold for more than its assessed value.
The net result in state spending means that, if school spending remained flat, local taxpayers would still see an increase of 5.6 percent on their education property tax bills, according to Vezina.
For the roughly 65 percent of Hartford residents who pay their education taxes under an income sensitivity program, the proposed budget would result in a cost increase of 1.9 percent.
For the remaining 35 percent of taxpayers, the impact would be greater. The school tax rate is currently $1.58 per $100 of assessed property value; an increase of 6 percent would add $237 to the tax bill of a home assessed at $250,000.
Board members also said they were holding out hope that the actual impact would be lessened once final numbers are in from the state. Because the state’s total education costs are driven by the budgets that towns approve, that number is not released until after Town Meetings have concluded.
The School Board is scheduled to vote on a final budget on Jan. 24; it will be presented to Town Meeting voters on March 6.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.