By Lisa Loomis
Voters in the Harwood Unified Union School District head back to the polls on May 30 to vote on a third proposed budget for FY2025. This third budget reflects a reduction of almost $3 million from the first failed Town Meeting vote on $50.8 and another million from the failed April 30 vote on a $4.88 million budget. The budget request is $47,892,873
Voting is open now and remains open until next Thursday, May 30, when polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. throughout the district.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE CUT
This third budget cuts an additional 13 positions, bringing the total number of positions eliminated to 27.5 FTEs. The cuts in this budget include foreign language classes at all the district’s elementary schools. The budget reduces the proposed year over year increase to 5.4% and results in a equalized pupil tax rate of $1.435, down slightly from the current budget tax rate of $1.44.
It drops equalized per pupil spending to $14,250, compared to the state average of $13,396.
The budget results in education increases across the district from 10.5% in Duxbury to 19.3% in Warren, based on each town’s Common Level of Appraisal.
NOT DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR
At a final information meeting about the budget on May 20, voters continued to express frustration that an increase of 5.4% was yielding such large tax increases. District finance director Lisa Estler explained the process and board member Bobbi Rood, Warren, reminded those present that “a dollar raised in taxes for the school is not a dollar for dollar for us.”
“So, our budget has no increase and our taxes go up because we pool money. We’re paying for the budgets of other schools,” one taxpayer clarified.
Superintendent Dr. Mike Leichliter acknowledged that that was the case.
OUTSIDE OUR DISTRICT
“Local tax dollars don’t stay in local districts. They go to the state and based on the funding formula, they are redistributed. With Act 127 some districts saw an increase in their taxing capacity. A larger percentage of our tax dollars will be staying outside of our school district,” he said.
Waterbury resident Steve Martin told the board that he started out trying to convince himself that he could vote for the budget but said he could not. He said he understood the budget and tax increase drivers but felt the bottom line was that a lot of people are on fixed incomes and received a 3.2% Social Security cost of living increase.
“I don’t agree with what the state has done. CLA seems to be much, as I hate it, about the fairest thing that can be done with statewide funding. Blaming stuff on CLA puts the blame in the wrong spot,’ Martin said.
POST-CLA RATES
He went on to say that if HUUSD presented a budget with a 3.2% increase over the FY2024 budget that he would support it – even though it means taxes increase far greater than 3.2% for him.
Estler was asked to model how such a minimal increase would impact post-CLA tax rates across the district. She said that a 3% increase over last year’s budget would still mean post-CLA tax increases ranging from 7.3% in Duxbury to 15.8% in Warren.
If the district does not have an approved budget in place by June 30, the district is allowed to borrow 87% percent of the current budget which would provide $39,517,349 and require extensive further reductions of staff and programming which Leichliter has said would mean the district would be unable to meet its mandated educational programming at that rate.
