CCS School Board Approves a Revised Budget with $57,312 Additional Cuts
March 18, 2010

The School Board voted at a special meeting on March 18 for a revised budget that includes additional cuts of $57,312 from the original budget defeated on Town Meeting Day. The vote was 4-1, with Clyde Baldwin opposed.

The revote is being warned for Tuesday, April 6. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the Australian ballot voting. The location is the multi-purpose room at CCS. Voters who used absentee ballots for Town Meeting voting will be mailed the ballots for this special vote.

The Board will hold a Public Hearing on the new proposed budget at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening, April 1, in the Library at CCS.

Bob Mason, CSSU Chief Operating Officer, outlined the tax implications of the revised budget. The residential tax rate would be $.9501, down from $.9598 with the defeated budget.

With the new reductions, the School Board has cut $400,000 from the CCS operating budget, and limited new spending to the first payment of $167,000 on the $2.8 million bond for the reconstruction project. Despite the fact that this all represents a 2.4% reduction from the current year budget, Mason estimates that the residential tax rate for CCS will increase 6.3% over last year. This compares with a 7.25% increase with the defeated budget. When blended with the CVU rate the residential increase is 5.7%.

Income sensitivity reduces the impact for homeowners who are eligible.

The tax rate increase is due to several factors. The state has increased the statewide property tax rate, and is not increasing the per student grants to school districts. Unlike last year, and similar to the municipal budget, there is no expected surplus from current year to apply to and reduce next year's budget. And there are no more AARA (stimulus) funds available.

The budget reductions will not affect the non-residential tax rate, which is set by the state and affected only by the local common level of appraisal, not by the actual school budget. The non-residential rate applies to commercial property, seasonal homes and undeveloped land.