Save Money with Default Budgets

How do you feel now that your total property tax went up because the 2017 reassessment that increased your property value was not offset by a sufficient decrease in the tax rate?

Now is the time to vote for the smallest possible budgets because that will have the least impact on your personal finances.

You should vote for the proposed sewer dept. budget, since it is less than the default, and the income from hauled waste is keeping the sewer rate at $7.57/1,000 gal.

Vote No on the Town Budget

The proposed town budget is $4,003,181.

The default budget is $3,962,560, which is about $38,000 (1%) more than the 2017 budget ($3,924,683).

By voting No, you approve the lower default budget of $3,962,560 and save almost $41,000.

Vote No on the School Budget

According to the Dept. of Education's (DOE) calculations, you will have to pay $18,216/student for AES and ARD, which are ranked near the bottom of all NH schools. (See the links to the right for SchoolDigger.com and GreatSchools.org).

By voting No, you are voting against the proposed 2018-19 school budget of $10,077,085 and in favor of the lower default school budget of $9,981,555. This results in a tax savings of $202,853 over the current 2017-18 budget.

For more details, read the following (source: Fiscal Year 2018-2019 School Board Proposed Budget):

The current 2017-18 approved budget is $10,184,208 plus $102,436 for unwarranted raises.

The proposed 2018-19 school budget is $10,077,085.

The default 2018-19 school budget is $9,981,555.

Tuition cost for an estimated 148 PA students = 148 x $13,462 ea. = $1,992,376.

Total out of district tuition = $2,035,551 (PA, Alt Skills, and Gen. Ed. (Night courses).

Net budget for estimated 374 AES and ARD students = $8,041,534.

If you calculate the cost per student for AES and ARD, it seems to comes to over $21,000/student. But don't get all worked up just yet.

School Board Chair Kris Raymond has advised that the actual cost per student is calculated by the DOE. The following excerpt comes from the DOE web site.

"The Cost per Pupil represents, with certain adjustments, current expenditures from all funding sources (local, state and federal) associated with the daily operation of schools. Payments to other school districts and private schools have been subtracted. Revenues from the sales of lunches have also been excluded. Cost per Pupil is calculated by subtracting tuition and transportation from K-12 current operating expenditures, and then dividing by the average daily membership in attendance (ADM-A). The report "State Average Cost Per Pupil and Total Expenditures" identifies which expenditures have been included or excluded. The per pupil amount of all expenditures - operating, tuition, transportation, equipment, construction, interest and non-K-12 expenditures is $18,216.28."

To summarize, you will be paying $18,216/student for AES and ARD. By voting No, you approve the lower default school budget of $9,981,555 and save $202,853 over the current 2017-18 budget.