Tax cap approval forces budget calculations across several Monadnock school districts

Some local leaders said the cap will be especially difficult to absorb because several required costs continue to climb faster than inflation.

Voters across the Monadnock Region approved Question 2 on Tuesday in seven school districts, setting a new ceiling on the amount districts can raise through property taxes and prompting officials in some communities to warn that reductions are likely. The measure, which passed by narrow margins in several places, also limits school administrative units’ central office spending to 6 percent of a district’s total budget.

The districts that supported the ballot question were the Monadnock Regional School District, Fall Mountain Regional School District, Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District, and the school districts in Hinsdale, Marlow, Sullivan and Winchester. The proposal needed 60 percent support to take effect, and most of the successful votes cleared that threshold by only a small margin. Because the measure excludes bonded capital costs and is adjusted for inflation, officials say the impact will depend on future spending pressures and state figures that are still coming in.

Some local leaders said the cap will be especially difficult to absorb because several required costs continue to climb faster than inflation. In Winchester, school board chair Karen Jerome pointed to rising health care expenses and said the district expects one of its largest jumps to come next year, with health insurance projected to increase by 28 percent. She said the district still wants to provide the strongest education possible, but that cuts will be necessary.

For the Monadnock Regional School District, Superintendent Jeremy Rathbun said the vote means reductions are unavoidable. The district, which serves Fitzwilliam, Gilsum, Swanzey, Troy and Roxbury, passed the question 3,580-2,270, or 61.2 percent. Rathbun said obligations such as union contracts and health insurance, along with higher utility and fuel costs, leave little room to hold the tax line without changing services. He also noted that the district expects less adequacy aid from the state, its main revenue source, and said there are still too many unknowns to determine the full effect. Even so, he said he was somewhat surprised by the result, given that the board has not proposed large budget increases in recent years.

In Jaffrey-Rindge, Superintendent Reuben Duncan said the district appears headed for cuts as it begins work on next year’s budget. The district already moved to a default budget after voters rejected its proposal in March, and the new tax limit means it cannot raise more property tax revenue than it does this year. Duncan said future planning will be complicated by uncertain health insurance costs, a new teacher contract and additional funding needs for career and technical education students. He added that the district has not yet settled on specific reductions, though all programs will have to be considered. He also said the SAU budget likely will stay under the 6 percent limit.

Winchester’s tally of 839-547 put the district just over the required supermajority, but Jerome said a recount has been requested and will take place Nov. 12. She said the cap will make it harder for the district to continue improving academic outcomes and described the outcome as disappointing for students.

Sullivan’s situation is different from many of the other districts because it does not operate schools of its own. School board chair Michael Brooks said most of its spending goes to mandated tuition agreements with Keene and Nelson for students who attend Nelson Elementary School, Keene Middle School and Keene High School. He said those costs leave little flexibility and that the district may need to seek voter approval to exceed the cap if expenses rise too high. Brooks said the district’s central office share is around 4 percent, so the 6 percent administrative limit should not be a problem. It was not immediately clear what would happen if voters refused a future override.

The question failed in the Keene School District and the ConVal School District, along with Chesterfield, Harrisville, Marlborough, Surry and Westmoreland. In School Administrative Unit 29, which serves Chesterfield, Harrisville, Keene, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson and Westmoreland, the vote did not reach the level needed to impose the central office spending cap.

Reaction at polling places reflected the split over school spending and property taxes. Some voters said the limits were overdue because of rising tax bills, while others argued that districts need steady funding to maintain programs and staff. In Gilsum, Krista Clement and Russell Ramsey said they supported the measure because property owners are carrying too much of the tax load. In Walpole, Peter Graves said local taxes have continued to rise and that some response was necessary, even as he said educators deserve to be paid fairly. He also referenced earlier efforts to leave the Fall Mountain Regional School District, though he opposed that move.

Other voters saw the question as the wrong solution. Meghan Powell, a biology teacher at Fall Mountain Regional High School who lives in Alstead, said she voted against the cap because her district is already under financial strain. Craig Carey of Walpole said he did not believe limiting property taxes would solve the problem, given the absence of a state sales or income tax and the need to fund schools somehow.