RSU 22 budget committee lays out FY26 schedule and priorities as towns warn of tax impact

The RSU 22 budget committee on March 13 reviewed the district’s year-long budget process, approved a meeting schedule leading into spring board votes and the June referendum, and elected Brooke Miller as chair of the committee. Town representatives from the district’s member towns urged caution about relying on one-time fund balance to smooth taxes and raised the potential impact of a cut to federal Title I funds.

The committee’s presenter (staff member) described the process that produces the district’s budget: principals and program directors compile school- and program-level requests beginning in November; those requests are submitted and reviewed in December; administrators meet one-on-one with building leaders; and the district then synthesizes a global budget, with detailed committee review of individual budget “articles” beginning in March and continuing through mid-May before the board votes to adopt a budget to send to the June referendum. The presenter said the committee’s March–April calendar is being arranged so departments can present when their staff are available and noted that the meeting on March 20 was moved to 5 p.m.

Committee members and four town representatives discussed a preliminary FY26 priorities list that includes a central-office refurbishment, a districtwide security/panic-button system, replacement or staged replacement of aging playground equipment (including a pre-K playground at Winterport to match one recently funded on the Hamden campus), a technology replacement reserve for student and staff devices, and targeted reserves for special education and for a possible loss of federal Title I funds. On the playgrounds, staff said manufacturers often will not sell spare parts for older equipment and that repairs can void warranties, so the district is planning staged replacements over two to five years rather than wholesale immediate replacement.

Staff told the committee the district currently receives about $300,000 to $500,000 annually in Title I funds and recommended considering a reserve account to help absorb potential cuts if federal funding is reduced. The presenter said that at this time the district has not received a firm reduction amount and that any reserve would be funded from the district’s fund balance if the board chooses to set one aside.

Town representatives used the meeting to press for fiscal restraint and clearer public communication. A town representative emphasized concern that drawing down unallocated fund balance to offset operating costs could lead to a sizable single-year tax increase once reserves return to the legal target, and another said improved early outreach to towns helped repair working relationships after last year’s contested budget. Board members and town officials repeatedly described the committee’s goal as striking a balance between fiscal responsibility and maintaining the education services that attract residents to the towns.

The committee confirmed a set of meeting dates for article-level presentations through April and noted several nonnegotiable dates in May and June tied to board approval and the district’s referendum schedule. Staff said all budget meeting documents and presentations will be posted online and that the presentations to the committee are intended to be higher-level summaries rather than line-by-line inventories of every supply item.

Votes at a glance: Brooke Miller was nominated and seconded for chair of the budget committee and was approved by voice vote; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally or the names of the mover and seconder. No other formal votes were recorded during the meeting; most items were discussed for future committee and board action.

Next steps include article-by-article presentations in late March and April, a mid-May board review and vote to adopt a budget, and the June referendum where voters can increase or decrease the total dollar amount on the warrant but cannot legally earmark an added dollar for a specific line item. Staff reiterated the district’s intent to be transparent and to provide committee members and the public with documentation as the budget advances.