H/B co-op officials propose $18.75m budget

Friday, February 19, 2010

HOLLIS – Officials in the Hollis/Brookline Cooperative School District are proposing 10 warrant articles that voters will decide on at the annual meeting in March, including an $18.75 million budget to operate the district’s two schools and pay salaries and benefits for 117 teachers and 83 support staff.

On Monday, the school board and the board’s budget committee welcomed public comment on proposed spending for the 2010-2011 school year during a public hearing at the Hollis/Brookline Middle School.

The meeting was scheduled for 7 p.m., but it did not get underway until 7:20 p.m., allowing plenty of time for latecomers to find seats, and for school officials to distribute a packet of handouts, including a draft of the warrant articles, a chart on student enrollment projections, a tax impact statement and the proposed budget, which included pages of detailed accounts of school spending.

Following public comment, which ended around 11:30 p.m., the cooperative budget committee voted 4 to 3 to reduce spending by $250,000.

There is a $750,000 reserve balance in the current budget, but the school board is not supporting the cut.

There were lengthy discussions about the reserve balance, and board members asked the district’s new finance director for explanations.

Business Administrator Mark McLaughlin joined the district on Dec. 1, after the previous administrator, who said working for three districts was too much for one person, left to take another job.

During opening remarks, Steve Pucci, the chairman of the cooperative budget committee, encouraged the audience to ask three “simple” questions.

“What are the facts? What do they mean? And what do we do?” Pucci said. “We provide you with the data points to make an informed decision.”

On March 17, when the annual cooperative school district meeting convenes at the high school, the cooperative school board and its corresponding budget committee plan to present voters with a total compensation package for teachers of $8.50 million.

That amount includes salary and health care benefits and reflects a recently settled three-year contract.

“The negotiation was difficult, but we found a way to an acceptable agreement, and at the end, both sides were unhappy,” said School Board member Daniel Peterson. “Nobody really got what they wanted.”

The $8.50 million compensation package includes $6.82 million for wages and FICA; $467,000 in contributions to the New Hampshire Retirement Fund; $923,000 for health insurance; $83,000 for dental insurance; and $212,000 for “other.”

The budget reflects a decrease in step increases from 3.5 percent to 2.5 percent over three years, provides no Cost of Living Adjustment for teachers receiving step increases, and offers, for teachers off step, a small COLA, 1 percent, 1.25 percent and 1.75 percent during the three years of the contract.

Given a 17.6 percent increase in the cost of health care insurance, the district is asking both professional and support staff to contribute more: 15 percent of the cost of a single health care plan, up from 10 percent; 22 percent for two-person plan, up from 15 percent; and 32 percent for a family plan, up from 25 percent.

The school board and budget committee have also agreed to two small increases, one in July 2011 and another in January 2012 to “resync” teachers who should have received step increases, based on their experience and credentials, but didn’t.

Fewer support staff employees receive health care benefits, and their costs are assessed differently.

So far, the cooperative school district has estimated that the tax rate in Hollis will increase by 33 cents, from $6.21 per thousand of valuation to $6.54, while the Brookline tax rate goes down: from $8.43 to $8.35 per thousand of assessed property value.

This means that the owner of a $300,000 home in Hollis would see an increase of $99 in his or her tax bill, while someone in Brookline with the same property value would enjoy a decrease of $24.

During the public comment period, several speakers suggested budgeting lower amounts to avoid an unreserved fund balance, an amount used to lower expenses, and the tax burden.

Talk about the surplus also produced some confusion, as final budget figures, including the tax rate, depend on how much is applied from the fund balance.

Limiting the surplus during budget-making is tricky, however, some officials said.

According to state law, districts may not operate at a deficit. If a district runs short of money, it is required to make cuts necessary to keep spending in line.

Officials stopped taking public comments at 11:30 p.m., and invited the few voters who remained to stay and listen to the board deliberate.

“This meeting is for you, not for us,” Pucci, the budget committee chairman, had announced at the start of the meeting. “We want you to help us.”

Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 24 or hbernstein@cabinet.com.