WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown School Committee heard some sobering news about the prospects for the fiscal 2018 budget talks it will begin in earnest next month.

 

The K-6 district expects costs for the fiscal year to increase by about twice the funding increase historically offered by the town unless cuts are found.

 

"As a starting point for planning for FY18, we asked: What happens if we just keep level staffing from this year to next?" WES Committee Chairman and finance subcommittee member Joe Bergeron told his colleagues at Wednesday's monthly meeting. "The reality is we're just a hair shy of a 5 percent increase."

 

The town, which is yet to release its FY18 budget, generally raises spending across the board by 2.5 percent.

 

Last May, town meeting approved an elementary school budget that rose 6.35 percent from FY16 to FY17.

 

Bergeron and WES committee member Dan Caplinger, who comprise the panel's finance subcommittee, have been crunching the numbers with district Business Manager Nancy Rauscher, interim Superintendent Kim Grady and other administrators.

 

In response to questions from other committee members, Bergeron said "an enormous chunk" of the projected 5 percent increase in costs comes from health insurance premiums, over which the district has no control as part of a countywide insurance group. Other cost increases stem from previously negotiated hikes in contracts with school employees.

 

Bergeron emphasized that the budget numbers are not finalized.

 

"I don't want this to be a red flag for people to think about programming or staffing that's in jeopardy," he said. "We want to push for the best interests of the school and want to push for everything we can, but those numbers say we need to be aware that adding programs is going to be challenging from a pure numbers basis.

 

"We want to make sure we communicated that out of the finance subcommittee."

 

The School Committee created a subcommittee to track the district's finances last spring after a tumultuous budget season. Members of the town's Finance Committee recommended the School Committee create a subgroup similar to the one that operates at Mount Greylock.

 

"In the past, we collectively started the [budget] process somewhat under the gun," said John Skavlem, the longest tenured member of the School Committee. "I appreciate the recommendation of the town Finance Committee and others that led to the formation of that subcommittee.

 

"It's still going to be very difficult with that news. But the fact that you two at least have a handle on that will be helpful."

 

Grady noted that the finance subcommittee has been communicating with the School Committee's liaison on the town Finance Committee and the chairman of that committee.

 

"The town will have no surprises, either," she said.

 

Bergeron insisted that budget cuts are not inevitable.

 

"I do want to make sure people recognize that even with us saying, it's certainly not great news where FY18 is headed, but it's also not bad news," Bergeron said. "We're not doomed to any program or staffing changes. … It's just a reality that we're going to have a little bit of an uphill climb.

 

"It's in our power to advocate for any budget we see as appropriate, but then it's up to us to bring the rest of the town along with us."