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School board presents FY2026 budget draft; district projects lower education tax rate
Summary
Burlington School Board leaders presented the proposed FY2026 budget on Jan. 27, projecting a 4% reduction in the education property-tax rate driven largely by changes to the state weighted-pupil funding formula and district budgeting practices.
Claire Woll, chair of the Burlington School Board, and Nathan Lavery, executive director of finance for the Burlington School District, presented the district’s proposed FY2026 budget at the Jan. 27 council meeting.
Lavery highlighted a projected 4% decrease in the education property-tax rate, attributing the decline largely to state changes in the weighted-pupil funding formula enacted last year and to the district’s multi-year budgeting and enrollment-aligned staffing practices. He cautioned that the state will continue reviewing education finance during the legislative session and the district is watching for further changes.
The presentation noted that the district faces rising costs (wages, health care) and debt service related to the high-school rebuild even as enrollment has declined modestly. The board said it balanced those pressures without eliminating core staff and that some investments in school infrastructure are included in the proposed budget. The district also plans public outreach and materials explaining tax impacts and how the ballot language must follow state requirements (meaning the ballot question may not show the projected tax-rate change directly).
School officials said they will continue outreach to councilors and the public and thanked voters for previous support of the BHS/BTC campus projects. No council vote was required on the presentation; school board leaders will bring the final budget and required ballot language as the district’s adoption process proceeds.
