The following commentary was written by BRSU Superintendent Randi Lowe for the Manchester Journal.
Education Budgeting for Fiscal Year 2025
Navigating the twists and turns of Vermont’s school budgeting process for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25 - July 2024-June 2025) was never going to be easy for most school districts. Local school boards face multiple challenges beyond education spending. The State of Vermont is implementing a new procedure for counting pupils based on new legislation titled Act 127. The pandemic Vermont real estate market dramatically alters the relationship between assessed values and actual sales which impacts each town’s Common Level of Appraisal (CLA). All this uncertainty, meanwhile, raises questions about the status of the Vermont Education Fund, which is expressed formally in a number called the Property Yield. With so many moving parts, it’s difficult to keep track.
Let’s start the journey with our local school boards developing a budget for FY25. This is where our school boards have the most control. Statewide healthcare premiums for educators are increasing by over 16 percent. Other components of our budget have moved up higher with the onset of inflation. Federal grants made available during the pandemic have been phased out. Demands for servicing students with special needs are increasing. Equally important was acknowledging that our education programming must adapt to meet the academic, social and emotional needs of our students.
Throughout the process we worked creatively to meet the standard set by our local school boards: Provide the best possible education program for all our kids at a reasonable cost. To meet this challenge staff resources were reallocated, programming directions prioritized, and financial investments reevaluated.
When the dust cleared our local spending budgets for FY25 appeared to be in good shape. While the State of Vermont forecasted an Education Spending increase of 12 percent statewide, our numbers were much lower. Education spending for Mettawee is up by 1.8%, with Taconic & Green rising by 3.8 percent. So far, so good.
Now comes the hard part: the Vermont homestead tax rate formula. In early January, the state realized that language in Act 127 placing a 5% cap on district tax rates, created an incentive for many districts to increase education spending well above expected levels. This development raised questions about the health of the State Education Fund (Property Yield) and forced the State Legislature to take action.
Over the last few weeks, the legislature has passed a new law, House 850 (H850), that addresses the loophole in Act 127. Since many districts will need to reevaluate their spending plans, H850 allows districts added time to revise their budget for a vote later this spring.
I’m proud to report that our local school boards have taken decisive action in response to the complexities of FY25. Because our original plans for education spending were reasonable, we will not need to delay the vote on our warned budgets for education spending. Our public vote on school spending for both Mettawee and T&G will go ahead as planned on Tuesday, March 5th.
In response to the expected increase in final education tax rates created by the state formula, the Mettawee and Taconic & Green School Boards have both decided to exercise their right to strategically use a portion of our Tax Stabilization Funds to soften the blow to our taxpayers.
School budgeting and education tax rates in Vermont have always been tortuous, but FY25 has lifted the complexity to a new level. To provide you with important information about this year’s budget, please check the following options:
T&G Annual Meeting: Tuesday, February 27th @ 7 pm at Manchester Elementary Middle School. (Doors open at 6 pm for informal networking and education discussions.)
Mettawee Annual Meeting: Wednesday, February 28th @ 7 pm at the Mettawee Community School.
Annual Reports: Both T&G and Mettawee have published Annual Reports that can be found online at the BRSU website (BRSU.org). The Mettawee documents have been mailed to all registered voters. T&G Reports are available at T&G schools, community libraries and town offices.
These Annual Meetings and Reports can provide helpful information as you prepare for your vote on March 5th. Perhaps this year, more than in prior years, I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities.
Randi Lowe
Superintendent, BRSU