Issue #15: We have explored the many deficiencies in the arguments FOR all-day Kindergarten. Hopefully we have generated thoughtful discussion based on research and data. It’s now time to move on to other questions in the Board of Education’s budget.
Before you say, or ask yourselves, “Why are they picking on the Board of Education budget?” or “Why don’t they start analyzing the town budget, or the RHAM budget?”
Before we start the next phase of analysis of the BOE budget, everyone needs to first understand the budgetary process.
The Board of Education is the first department to submit an approved budget to the Board of Selectmen. It would be unfair to analyze any budget other than the approved budget because the budget process itself (and that includes BOE, BOS, BOF, and RHAM) is fluid. We have to respect and acknowledge that fluidity. For example, the BOE talked and talked about ADK, but when they finally voted, they could have voted on a budget that did not have the ADK line item.
The Board of Selectmen, upon receiving the BOE budget, then develop the town budget, approve it, and submit it, along with the Board of Education’s budget to the Board of Finance. They can include an “advisory” letter to the BOF that can include their thoughts on the BOE budget, but the Selectmen can NOT make budgetary decisions on the Board of Education’s budget.
Taxpayers who want to be involved in the process should let the Selectmen know during the Selectmen’s portion of the process how they want their tax dollars spent, just as they did during the Board of Education’s budget process.
The Board of Finance receives the overall “town budget” which now includes both the town’s approved budget and the BOE’s approved budget requests. Notice that we are clearly stating: both are budget requests.
It is the Board of Finance that can mandate reductions to budget requests, whether that budget request is for an increase or is even flat from the previous year’s budget. (That definitely happens all the time in numerous towns throughout the state.)
Taxpayers who want to be involved in the process should let the Finance members know during the BOF’s portion of the process how they want their tax dollars spent, just as they did during the Board of Education’s budget process and the Board of Selectmen’s budget process.
But the BOF can only make monetary reductions; they have NO line item control. The men and women of the Hebron Board of Finance cannot force either the town or the BOE to cut specific line items. And therein lies the problem, which, in the past, as bred the “Silver Era Scare Tactics.”
“Oh, if you don’t give us every single dollar we want, then we’ll just cut 10 ½ teachers, but we’ll never give up all-day Kindergarten. We’ll show YOU who’s in charge!”
Yep, it’s already started. So, in the scenario that the Board of Finance reduces the town budget, involved taxpayers should then attend Selectmen’s meetings to let the Selectmen know which services they feel should be reduced or eliminated, based on BOF mandates, and which services they feel should not be reduced or eliminated.
In the scenario that the Board of Finance reduces the education budget, involved taxpayers should then attend Board of Education meetings to let the BOE members know which services they feel should be reduced or eliminated, based on BOF mandates, and which services they feel should not be reduced or eliminated.
And now for the bad news: there is absolutely no system of comparable checks and balances regarding the RHAM budget. That’s correct. None. Well, there is one control that taxpayers have. The RHAM budget is voted on separately at referendum. In the meantime, involved taxpayers can go to RHAM Board of Education meetings and ask, in public session, for the Board to meet the Hebron Selectmen and Finance Board members’ request for a 0% budget increase.
However, and please keep this in mind: even if RHAM comes in with a 0% budget increase, Hebron taxes will increase because our proportion of students going to the regional school will increase next year. The way it works: the three towns (Andover, Hebron, and Marlborough) pay the RHAM tab on a proportional basis, based on the number of students each town sends. So if Hebron sends, for example, 54% of all students, we pay 54% of the budget. Because of the increase in Hebron students – already a known factor – in the FY 2010-11 fiscal year, our proportional rate of payment to the RHAM budget is going to increase.
SO…. Add the RHAM increase to the estimated 1.32% tax increase estimated by the Board of Finance – and that’s ONLY IF the Town of Hebron budget, the Hebron Board of Education budget, and the RHAM budget all come in at a 0% increase.
Folks, it’s not going to be pretty EVEN IF the town, BOE and RHAM all meet the 0% mandate.
To learn more about the process, you need to read these statutes, and here’s one you MUST read:
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2005/pub/chap170.htm#Sec10-222.htm
Please note the explicit statement in this Connecticut State Statute: Expenditures by the board of education shall not exceed the appropriation made by the municipality, with such money as may be received from other sources for school purposes.
If you read the entire section, the “municipality” in this case is defined as the local Board of Finance.
You will also want to familiarize yourself with our newly revised town charter, which can be found at http://www.hebronct.com/pdfs/Local%20News/Charter.pdf. Pay attention to the roles and responsibilities of the boards and commissions in order to become more familiar with the budgetary process.
While we will continue to explore other issues within the only approved budget we have in hand (the BOE budget), know that we will also be exploring issues within the town and RHAM budgets, once those budgets are available to the public in the future weeks and months.