Cheshire Will Hold Another Override Vote
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The Cheshire Selectmen want to give residents another chance to consider an override to fund the district school budget. |
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Selectmen have voted to hold another Proposition 2 ½ override election on Aug. 5 in hopes of passing the Adams Cheshire Regional School District budget.
Adams Cheshire Regional School District committee members and school officials met with the Selectmen on Tuesday to request another override vote for the $90,000 above Cheshire’s levy limit that is needed to fund the certified district budget.
“If we don’t educate our children, you may as well put a lock on the door of the town,” Selectwoman Carol Francesconi said. “The town will die.”
Because only 18 percent of Cheshire’s voters cast ballots in the original override vote on June 15, some school officials felt many residents did not understand the budget process and did not come out to support the $19.1 million school district budget, which overwhelmingly passed at town meeting on June 8.
School Committee Chairman Paul Butler said the district will hold informational meetings where townspeople can ask questions about the budget and the process.
Selectman Robert Ciskowski said he would like the town to be involved in these meetings as well.
“It is not just your problem, and we are in this together,” he said. “I think it has to be group effort because neither side is going to be able to have all of the answers.”
If the override fails again, the original certified school budget is officially rejected. This means the school committee has 30 days to submit another budget. The budget would then go to another town meeting and, if rejected again, would go to a district-wide vote.
Cutting the $90,000 for the Cheshire assessment would trigger a proportional reduction on the Adams side, forcing the district to make an additional $350,000 in cuts.
Advisory Board Chairman William Craig said these informational meetings should inform Cheshire residents of the consequences of a district-wide vote. If the district-wide vote approves the budget, Cheshire has to find the $90,000, or whatever amount the school committee resubmits.
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“I think the town people have to think about that and how we can conceivably fund $90,000 out of our budget that we just don’t have,” Craig said. “We are going to kill more services that we already cut back. ... It’s a serious impact on the well-being of Cheshire.”
Butler suggested calculating how the $90,000 would actually affect the tax rate at the meetings. Craig said he estimates it would be near 30 cents per thousand.
Town Administrator Mark Webber said he contacted the town auditor in regard to the town’s levy limit. He said the town may be able to pull together $40,000 from the final state allocation, or cherry sheet, local receipts and new growth. He said this would drain the town’s free cash even more.
“Apparently our cherry sheet will be up a little bit more and we could perhaps squeeze our local receipts estimates closer to actual, which is a dangerous thing because you are essentially eating up free cash,” Webber said. “It’s not found money; it's money that is stolen form future free cash, but when you are in this spot, you look where you can look.”
He said this “chunk” could lower the override or lessen the blow to the budget if the $90,000 has to come out without an override.
Ciskowski said Cheshire residents should be aware of the sacrifices Adams is making for the school budget by cutting services with an already high tax rate. He said Cheshire is desirable because of its low tax rate; however, it sometimes can be a hindrance.
“That low tax rate is great, but sometimes when something like this comes around, it’s a trap,” he said. “Cheshire has always been a desirable town to live in with a very respectable schools system and a very frugally run town, and we have to preserve that somehow.”
The override vote will take place at the community center on Wednesday, Aug. 5, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tags: Adams-Cheshire, override, school budget,
