This year we will again offer some time and space to hear from you on your hopes for our schools and how the budget can support those hopes. These are not formal meetings, but listening sessions focused on hearing from you. Our first forum will be held on 10/9 at 6pm in the Mill River library. We will host another session on 10/17 from 3:30pm-4:30pm.

We greatly appreciated your input and feedback last year, and we hope to hear from you again this year. Right now our big picture conversation is about how to use surplus funds over the next three years to support our schools while minimizing tax impacts.

Last year we were able to keep education tax increases in Clarendon, Shrewsbury and Wallingford between 4.5% and 7.2% despite reports of a projected 20% increase on average across the state (Tinmouth was undergoing a reassessment, so it was harder to predict). We expect similar reporting this fall since the legislature has not made any fundamental changes to how education is funded across the state. And we will be doing similar work to navigate this budget season.

While we vote locally on budgets, how other districts manage their budgets does have an impact on our tax rates. Even if we cut spending, some of our towns could still shoulder the burden of other districts' increases. The more your representatives hear from you, the more likely it is that we will see a change in how our schools are funded. Whether you want more local control or more state-level control of spending, it's hard to be happy with a system that looks like local control but isn't.

If you missed the Rutland Herald article on Rutland County homestead tax rates, here it is: https://www.rutlandherald.com/news/local/rutland-county-faces-steep-homestead-tax-rate-incre[...]tml

If you have questions about the budget process, please don't hesitate to reach out to me (802-786-3998 ext. 244).

Thanks,
Brian Hill
Superintendent
Mill River Unified Union School District

Event Info

Nov 20, 2024, 6:30 to 7:30 PM

Nov 21, 2024, 6 to 8 PM

Nov 22, 3 PM to 1 PM, Nov 24, 2024