$1.7 million Milford school addition approved

Thursday, March 11, 2010

MILFORD – Voters approved an addition to the Jacques School but turned down the School District’s operating budget Tuesday

The $1.7 million four-classroom addition, which will give the school more space to accommodate public kindergarten, is contingent on the state funding 75 percent.

Milford’s share, $438,000, will have a first-year tax impact in 2011 of 1 cent per $1,000 of assessed valuation, which will go up over the remaining nine years of the bond to about 7 cents. Last year, the project received a majority vote but failed to get the required 60 percent.

The original $35.3 million school operating budget had been increased by $419,451 at the school Deliberative Session in February, and voters said they wanted to return staff hours that the School Board had trimmed from the original budget.

Tuesday’s defeat means a default budget of $35.4 million, a budget that is slightly more than the School Board’s original budget, will go into effect.

Cost items related to an administrators’ contract were approved, but an article to spend up to $110,000 from the sale of town-owned land to buy a lot adjacent to the high school for extra parking failed.

The $35.4 million default budget, plus the $82,701 cost of the administrators’ contract is estimated to increase the school tax rate by 29 cents.

Len Mannino and Bob Willette will stay on the School Board for three more years, while incumbent Bert Becker was narrowly defeated by Carolyn Magri-Halstead for a one-year seat.

The voter turnout was 2,048, roughly 20 percent of a little more than 10,000 registered voters.

Kathy Cleveland can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 21, or kcleveland@cabinet.com.