Henry Raymond
Fairfax News => Political Issues/Comments => Topic started by: Henry on January 26, 2005, 12:11:29 PM
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Hi All,
Below is the official Legal Warning 2005 for the Fairfax Town School District Annual Meeting:
(http://www.vtgrandpa.com/newsclips/warning3.jpg)
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Hi All,
I was sent this nice net of the Fairfax School Warning:
Budget $9,519,491 4.8% increase.
Key points are surplus is approximately $480,000.
Three Articles to use surplus:
$68,000 for new bus
$80,000 for technology
$330,000 for capital improvements (new windows, new high gym floor, new high roof, plus a few more.)
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Received this note from one of the individuals who receives my news letter - Don't know if anyone in authority reads the forum, but maybe someone can provide an answer the the question:
Hi Henry;
Interesting budget request. Last years budget generated a $480, 000 surplus.
Now they want a 4.8% increase over last years budget, an amount equal to $439,361.
Couldn't we pay for the 4.8% increase with last years surplus? I'm probably naive, but I bet we are required to "spend" the surplus or not ask for an increase this year.
Are we in the mode of requesting increases so as to end up with a surplus, so as to then
have funds to spend on "items not in the budget"?????
This appears to be a slippery slope!
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I hope I can clarify a few things about the budget request. First, the surplus came from unanticipated revenue. The biggest hunk, about half the surplus was from special education reimbursement. That one is hard to predict because it depends on things out of our control, like who might move into the district with a special ed plan that we have to support. We did increase the amount we believe we will get in the budget under consideration. Another big piece came from more students than we projected choosing BFA from sending school districts without high schools. That's a good thing. We were losing students for awhile, but we turned that around the last few years. We added a few in our projections there too. Thirdly, you absolutely could use the surplus to reduce your tax amount. The budget qwould still be up 4.84 percent, but the surplus money would be counted as a revenue and the amount to be raised by taxes would be less. If you want a rough calculation, approximately 90,000 = 1penny on the tax rate. The board decided to give the voters some options on the surplus after holding a hearing to get input on the surplus. Any article that does not get supported by the voters, the amount of surplus will automatically be applied on the taxrate. Last, The school board and the administrators try to be very responsible with taxpayer money. You will notice that our increas is less, in some cases far less than other school districts in the area. We really value the support we have received over the years and will continue to meet the needs of our students while respecting the burden on taxpayers.
Scott Lang, BFA
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As Town Auditor, I would like to clarify some confusion on the actual amount of the school surplus.
In a previous email, I stated the surplus was approximately $480,000. This is actually the surplus for the 2004 fiscal year. There is also a $50,000 surplus from the 2003 fiscal year that was not needed because another surplus was generated in 2004. The two surpluses combined bring the total to an actual $530,865.
The $50,000 surplus from 2003 will be applied to expenses incurred for the upcoming budget (2005-2006 school year). It will reduces taxes.
The proposal for using the $480,000 surplus is split in 3 Articles.
Article III: $68,000 New school bus to replace oldest bus in use.
Article IV: Upgrade technology $80,000
Article V: Capital Improvements $330,000
I apologize for the confusion.
The proposed budget increase in expenditures is 4.84%
The CLA (Common Level of Appraisal) has dropped to 72.25. from 76.86
The effective 2005 tax rate for the school budget is 1.89.
Last year the school tax rate was 1.79
The reappraisal values will take effect for taxes paid in 2006.
Sincerely,
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I want to confirm Jackie's observation about the account balance carried forward. In an effort to simplify to a few sentences, I did not include that amount. I can say however that the amount put into revenue from anything that was surplus is then applied against the amount needed to raise taxes. Another interesting math problem we looked at revealed that one way to look at the projected tax rate would be to say that without the increase in the CLA, the tax rate would look very nearly level with last year's rate. I also need to note that there are many ways to slice this complex revenue piece and it would be oversimplifying to say the tax increase is soley the result of CLA. Thanks again Jackie for clarifying my earlier contribution. I hope this is helpful to some voters.
Scott Lang, BFA