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Date: 3/10/2021
HUNTINGTON – Gateway Regional Superintendent David B. Hopson convened a public hearing on the fiscal year 2022 (FY22) district budget on March 3, where he reviewed a 1.2 percent increase with representatives from the member towns who attended via Zoom.
Hopson said the increase of $192,530 in the $16.7 million budget was mainly in instructional services, which make up 55 percent of the budget. He also said the state income is based on the Governor’s initial budget, which still has to go through the House and Senate.
The majority of the discussion involved changes in assessments to the towns, which vary widely according to whether the towns vote for the alternative or statutory assessment method. In the alternative method, which requires a vote from all six towns, all of the towns’ assessments increase by 1.78 percent, a total increase in assessments of $90,000 over FY21.
In the traditional statutory method, which requires passage by four of the six towns, assessments are based on the March 1 student census. The movement in or out of a handful of students can dramatically change the assessments in a town, this year ranging from $100,000 less for one town, to $100,000 more for another. Hopson said there were also some changes in the minimum contribution formula which impacts the town assessments.
“It would be nice to get some initial thoughts from the towns on which direction to head,” Hopson said, referring to whether to ask the towns to fund the alternative or statutory assessment method.
Russell Finance Committee Member Nick Balboni asked what was the difference between the 1.2 percent increase in the budget, and the 1.78 percent increase in the alternative assessment.
Hopson said assessments are based on the difference between what Gateway takes in in revenue and costs. He said the budget went up “a little bit,” but the state is picking up less than 40 percent of the budget, and the towns have to make it up.
“Because we’re losing population and essentially held harmless, on a good year, the governor put in $30 more per student, but costs are more than $30 per student. The difference between what we get and what we spend has to be made up by the towns,” Hopson said.
Andy Myers, who serves on the Finance Committee in Chester, asked whether Gateway is expecting any more stimulus funds.
Hopson said the stimulus funds cannot be used to decrease expenditures in the budget. He said any received would be used for summer programs to help students make up what they lost during the year.
Finance Committee Member Ruth Kennedy of Russell asked how much money Gateway already received in COVID-19 aid over the past year.
Gateway Business Manager Stefanie Fisk said Gateway received $191,000 which was used for personal protective equipment, markings and other equipment needed to return students to school. She said they received another $36,000 for technology which went to remote hot spots for students in Russell and Blandford.
“That’s it for this year. Those are all dedicated grant funding,” Fisk said.
“Blandford plans to support the alternative again, but it becomes harder to support it when other towns only support it when they take a hit,” said Blandford Select Board Chair Cara Letendre.
“We’ve made that argument for three years now; we don’t know when your turn will be,” Hopson said, adding that it would be safe to assume that Chester would vote for the alternative again this year “for obvious reasons” as it has in the past.
This year, the statutory method for Chester would be more than $100,000 more costly, while for Blandford, it would be approximately $75,000 less. The alternative method was originally proposed in order to stabilize the assessments to the towns from year to year.
Hopson said two obvious questions are whether Middlefield will accept the alternative this year, which this year would be more costly for them, and there is the ongoing question with Russell and Montgomery, the two which have opposed it, even though this year it favors both towns. Hopson said last year, the alternative method favored Montgomery and they didn’t vote for it.
“For the Finance Committee, Russell will go with whatever is the cheapest. I would prefer the alternative, but I’m not always in agreement with the others,” said Balboni.
“The Finance Committee hasn’t voted on which way they’re going to go yet, neither has the Select Board,” said Kennedy.
Hopson said that leaves the School Committee without direction from the towns on which way they should go, whether statutory or alternative.
Hopson said state aid reflected in the budget could potentially change. “All we have now is the governor’s proposed budget, the House and Senate will have to work up theirs. We probably won’t know what the exact numbers are until June,” Hopson said.
Fisk added that the budget is just in initial stages as far as revenue. “As we get additional information on revenue we will update the spreadsheet,” she said. The Gateway budget information is available at www.grsd.org.