V.S. District 30 proposes budget with no cuts

District 30 administrators presented the proposed 2016-17 school budget on Monday night, and it does not include any cuts to programs or staff.

“If you ever want to know what a district values, look at their budget, because that’s where the money is,” said Superintendent Nicholas Stirling. He said that the budget proposal is in line with the district’s five-year strategic plan, which focuses on enhancing curriculum, communications throughout the district and improving learning opportunities through capital planning.

The district proposed a budget of $34,566,283, an increase of $516,167 over this year, or 1.52 percent. Assistant Superintendent for Business Lisa Rutkoske said the increase would largely be covered by the district’s “very healthy” financial reserves. The last time the budget included any cuts was the 2012-13 school year.

Rutkoske said that the increase primarily reflected higher tuition costs for outsourced special education services and transportation, ongoing investments in instructional technology (such as iPad-based learning) and a continued increase in health insurance costs.

Although the district is operating under the assumption that there would be no increased cost to taxpayers, a .29 percent increase in the tax levy, roughly $76,000, would still be within the allowable limit for next year. Also, since the district did not increase taxes in the past two years, the state gives it the option to request money it was previously entitled to without piercing the state’s property tax cap. The tax cap law, enacted in 2011, established a limit on the annual growth of property taxes levied by local governments and school districts to two percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. The tax levy cannot exceed the cap unless 60 percent of voters approve it, though the district has no intention of exceeding the limit.