FY 2017 Budget Schedule

Budget development has begun.  This is a task that is meant to include the community during the entire process.  Your voice can make a difference--the budget is a reflection of the priorities that our community brings to us.  The earlier you become involved, the better.  

How can you participate?

• Attend meetings and budget work sessions (schedule below)
• Watch recorded meetings online or on LCATV
• Follow along with the minutes and budget presentations online
• Call, email, or talk to your board members

This budget year will depend greatly on the result of the unification vote.  Why?  First off, the "hold harmless protection" that has given us phantom students in our student count will expire if we do not unify.  This will lower our student count immediately, causing a corresponding increase in our spending per pupil (which directly affects tax rate).  

A second consideration is the "allowable growth" law put in place earlier this year.  It dictates what our budget change can be based on spending per pupil.  Without unification, early indicators tell us that we may have to absorb a large cut, despite the fact that state law also compels us to provide universal preK to every student.  

Keep tuned in as we work through the new mandates and how each situation could impact budget.

Monday, October 5 - Regular School Board meeting

6:30pm at Westford School, see agenda for topic times

·         FY'15 end of year budget status - A report from our financial officer on the close of the FY'15 budget year and how well we executed to the budgeted amount.

·         FY'17 Budget guidance - A presentation from our financial officer on the anticipated state and local budget starting conditions which will be in place for the FY'17 Westford School budget.  

Monday, November 30 - Regular School Board meeting with budget focus

6:30pm at Westford School, see agenda for topic times

·         FY'17 Budget recommendations - Budget presentation from our administration and financial officer with recommendations for budgeting decisions.  This will take into account known Special Education requirements, staffing, site and maintenance, and technology needs. 

Thursday, December 3 - Budget Worksession #1

6:30pm at Westford School

·         Board discussion with opportunity for community input.  Goals include defining Board broad direction on budget, provide feedback to administration and financial officer on requested budget changes.

Thursday, December 10 - Budget Worksession #2

6:30pm at Westford School

·         Continued board discussion with opportunity for community input.  Review of requested budget changes and their impact and update on any state guidance on tax rate, common level of appraisal, etc. 

Tuesday, December 17 - Budget Worksession #3

6:30pm at Westford School

·         Final review of proposed FY'17 budget with opportunity for community input.  Prepare budget numbers, vote warning, and presentation materials in advance of the Joint Meeting

Wednesday, January 6 - Joint Meeting with Select Board

7:00pm at Westford School

·         Presentation of the proposed FY'17 budget.  Final proposed budget accepted by Board for public warning in anticipation of vote at Town Meeting Day

Monday, February 29 - Budget Informational Meeting

7:00pm at Westford School

·         Town Meeting review of proposed FY'17 budget

Tuesday, March 1 - Budget vote

7:00am to 7:00pm at Westford School

Up to date meeting agendas, minutes, and materials can be found on http://www.ccsuvt.org/westford at the "School Board" quick link

The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

Unification Q&A archive

We are receiving many unification questions from Westford citizens, with the expectation that there will be more.  In order to keep the Q&A organized, archived, and readable, a new page has been added to the blog and will be updated with new questions and answers as they come in.  Click on the tab titled "Unification Frequently Asked Questions" to view.

This is meant as a supplement to the FAQ and collected Q&A from the community forums available on the RED Study Committee website.  Please visit the official study website for a comprehensive look at all of the study resources.  

FY16 final tax bill numbers

Westford town property tax bills are broken out into two components:  education tax and municipal tax.  The school budget only affects the education tax portion of your bill.

The budget numbers are known when we go to the voting booth, but the resulting tax rates are not, as tax rates are not set until after Town Meeting Day budget votes.  We provide estimated tax rates during budget development that are based on conservative recommendations from the state.  Using conservative estimates often shows the worst case, which doesn't always come to pass.  This year was no exception, as estimated rates fluctuated dramatically during the legislative session.  It does illustrate how using early tax rate estimates may not be the best way of determining the quality of a proposed budget.

The state recommendations were changed after Town Meeting, as most school budgets came in lower than expected and the House passed a lower base rate.  This number was used for the reconsideration vote materials.  The final base rate numbers changed once more when the Senate proposed and passed its education bill amendments.

So...where does that leave us?  Below is a summary of changes:

Homestead tax rates landed in the middle of the two projected numbers, but the legislature backed off completely on increasing the Income Sensitivity rate.

After accounting for our district spending adjustment and Common Level of Appraisal, the actual rates Westford residents pay is below:

Actual Westford rates are $1.5266 for Homestead and 2.82% for Income Sensitivity.

Homestead tax rates ended halfway between our estimated numbers (increasing 3.95%), but the Income Sensitivity rate dropped drastically (from a 9.35% increase to a 1.44% increase).

The full state-provided tax rate calculation sheet for Westford (and all other towns) is available at http://www.state.vt.us/tax/pvredtaxrates.shtml.

The best way to understand how your education tax rate has changed is to compare the new bill to previous years.  Depending on your income, assessed home value, and type/amount of land, you may be paying different rates for different parts of property you own.  Most people pay at least a portion of their taxes based on the Income Sensitivity rate.  The above chart is a good overview of what to expect, but each situation will be different.

Special Education spending report

The state has just released its roll-up of school district spending for high cost disability and out of district placements.

Westford has been identified as a "Low Spending District", with costs at 26% below the state average.

The full report is available here.

Staff numbers and roles

A school is a personnel intensive enterprise.  Most of our budget is invested in the people who teach and support our students.  Properly staffing the school both in number and expertise is critical to our success.  Equally important is training and retaining that talent.

Our school practices several methods to keep our workforce as flexible as possible to student need.  Hiring staff members with multiple certifications allows us to utilize a single employee to fulfill several part time roles.  This allows for more skilled and responsive student services, while also helping to attract and retain individuals looking for more than part time employment.

Another practice is to split responsibilities into the appropriate job descriptions.  In general, the cost of a certified staff member is higher than that of a support staff member.  It is important to make the most of that investment.  We handle several duties in this way in order to realize a lower total overhead cost and keep our professionals focused on students rather than paperwork.

Finally, we are cautious to watch trends and make data-driven decisions when it comes to hourly staffing costs (maintenance/custodial/office administration).  If certain work functions result in overtime hours, we weigh the trade-offs between absorbing the overtime versus contracting the work out or making future staffing adjustments.  In all cases, we look at the total impact to our budget prior to making a decision.

The only reason that the above concepts work is that we have a dedicated and highly skilled staff.  It is not uncommon to see people do whatever it takes to get the job done.

How many people do we employ, and what are their roles?  

Below is a chart of all anticipated staffing for FY16.

All positions and their FTE (full time equivalent) are audited and compared versus anticipated student need, Vermont State Education Quality Standards, and our own School Action Plan.  Positions are added or removed in direct response to these metrics.

In a preK-8 school house, employees must have the training to apply developmentally appropriate response to each situation.  Students can range in age from 3 to 14.

Many positions are part time, which can present staffing challenges as those roles tend to turnover more quickly.

Certified staff is unionized, our support staff is not.

In total, we are budgeting for a total of 31.45 full time equivalent positions for the upcoming school year.

Comparative tax rates

At town meeting, I presented a chart showing the projected FY16 homestead tax rates for all towns in Chittenden County.  This information was taken from the Agency of Education's spreadsheet, and represents the actual amount that would show up on a town's tax bill (it includes the projected adjustment for CLA).

Some have been surprised to see that we were 14th out of 19.  The majority of our neighboring districts have made budgetary decisions that result in a higher homestead tax rate than Westford has.  

This chart doesn't speak to educational opportunities in each of these districts.  Some tax rates are driven by declining enrollment--others may be from increased budget devoted to student programs, lower revenues, etc.  In many ways, the above towns are competing to attract residents and potential students.  Tax rate can be one consideration, but educational quality is surely another.  Striking a balance between the two is key.  

A public school transitioned to an independent school model is currently being used by two districts in Vermont (Winhall and North Bennington ID).  I have been asked what the resulting tax rates for both of those towns are.  Below are the official tax grid calculations provided by the State of Vermont to voters of those districts for Town Meeting Day.  

Proposed tax rates were $1.7463 for Winhall and $1.7547 for North Bennington ID.  These districts account for the two highest tax rates in Bennington County.  Like Westford, these rates are for the education of all K-12 students within the town, not just the elementary school students.  I cannot speak to the budget details of either of these districts, but the tax information gives us one data point to make some relative comparisons.  

What would it take?

The following charts were presented at a recent meeting.

Education property tax is largely defined by total spending divided by number of pupils.

For the school, we can address the problem in several ways:

1)  Decrease the budget (short term solution)

2)  Increase the number of students (long term solution)

Spending cuts required to reach given estimated property tax changes

It is arguable that we cannot continue to cut our way to lower taxes.  We have reached diminishing returns as classes are full and staffing is reaching the minimum required to comply with student need and Vermont State Education Quality Standards.  Another drop in pupils next year will see the process repeat itself. 

 

Increase in student enrollment ("equalized pupils" in Vermont tax terms) to reach given estimated property tax changes

Stopping the drop in pupils has a much greater effect on tax rates.  The school has the capacity to accept more students without change in staffing.  As a town, have we been encouraging the type of growth, housing, and services that are required to attract families with young children? 

It may be unrealistic to believe that we can make changes to attract enough students in the short term to make a difference for tax rates.  It must, however, be integrated into Westford's long term development plans.

This analysis forms the basis for our board's decision to enter into a unification study with Essex Junction and Essex Town.  The larger pool of students could absorb our student decreases, and the property tax incentives for residents are an option that could not be ignored.  It presents a potential course to ride out the final years of decreasing enrollment before we start to see student population growth again.  The board is approaching the study without a predetermined outcome--the burden is on the data to prove out the findings.