MANCHESTER — The Manchester Essex Regional School Committee has voted to go forward with a fiscal 2013 operating budget of $19,742,267 and a capital budget of $2,668,208 for the year that begins July 1.
The operating budget is an increase of 3.3 percent from this year's budget, and will entail a 3.5 percent increase in town assessments to cover all the costs.
School officials said the increase should fall within the levy limit, however, and will not require an override of tax-limiting Proposition 21/2 by either Manchester or Essex.
The budget, which gained the School Committee's unanimous approval Tuesday night, is $369,000 lower than the December preliminary budget, which had sparked questions and was described by Superintendant Pam Beaudoin as the "high-water mark" for costs.
"We are cognizant of the climate that we are in," said Avi Urbas, the school district's director of finance. Urbas noted that the School Committee made an effort to lower costs as much as possible.
While the spending increase is roughly the same as the increase in the assessments for each town, state Chapter 70 school aid might play a large role in paying for some items from the capital budget, Urbas said.
"The state is recognizing that our costs are going up," said Urbas. "We've been talking about it and now the state is talking about it, too."
At the moment, Chapter 70 funding for the Manchester Essex district is expected to be $2,642,035, an increase of $535,104 over fiscal 2012, which runs through June 30.
The projected Chapter 70 dollars are not guaranteed, however, and the amount could change between now and the start of the new fiscal year in July.
"I'm always going to be against relying on Chapter 70," Beaudoin said.
The bulk of the budget revisions over the last two months came through trimming two proposed teaching spots, and transferring money from a reserve account to the general fund.
Other savings off the preliminary budget came from new projections about how many staffers would be retiring and receiving contracted incentive benefits, including a retirement bonus of 25 percent of a year's pay.
On the revenue side, the district stopped accepting new school choice students two years ago, but still has 1,551 school choice students in the district. That translates to $566,421 in school choice income for the 2012-2013 school year.
Manchester Essex is also slated to spend $966,421 of its banked school choice money in the 2012-2013 school year, reducing the current balance from $1,616,835 to $1,216,835.
The district, meanwhile, places 23 students in special education programs out of district, for a cost of $1.21 million. That cost is expected to increase to $1.24 million for the 2012-2013 school year, with $140,000 in state "circuit breaker" funds — used to help defray the costs of out of district special education placement — being transferred to the general fund to cover other costs.
The capital budget of $2,668,208 represents an increase of $159,788, or 6.6 percent, over this year's $2,508,420.
"We do have some daunting capital expenses that are creeping up on us, and we have to plan for them now," said School Committee Chairman Anton Geidt.
Those include $112,000 in updates to laptop carts, $77,000 to continue new technology rollouts, $150,000 to $200,000 for textbooks and other instructional materials, and a plan to spend between $1 million and $2 million in maintenance at the elementary schools.
That maintenance will include the roofs at Manchester Memorial and Essex elementary schools. The roofs date from the 1990s and are scheduled to be replaced in 2015..
The heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls of both schools are likewise on the to-be-fixed list, though the HVAC at Memorial Elementary was installed in 1998. The HVAC in Essex Elementary was installed in 1957, but both systems have the same replacement goal date of 2015.
Windows and plumbing fixtures also figure in the future capital expenses, as does an estimate for how much it will cost to replace the synthetic fields at the middle and high school in 2025 and at Memorial in 2023.
Stephanie Bergman can be reached at 978-283-7000 x3451, or sbergman@glouceztertimes.com.
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
