Triton budget outlook: rising health care, transportation costs and shifts in town assessments

Triton Regional School officials told the committee that rising health care costs, a more expensive bus contract and state formula changes for minimum local contributions are the principal drivers of next year’s level‑services budget.

Director of finance and operations Brian Perry said the district is using an initial assumption of a 15% health care increase for budgeting; he described that figure as a key driver and said health and dental alone could add about $960,000 to the budget under current assumptions. "That's a 960,000, 900 and 60 thousand dollar increase just for health and dental," Perry said.

Perry also reviewed the transportation bid process. Two vendors bid; NRT (now owned by Beacon Mobility) won the contract after Coach Company submitted a higher bid. District staff said the new contract still increases yellow‑bus transportation costs by about $230,000 — roughly a 12% increase — and that route coverage remains tight because of driver shortages. Perry described additional new contract provisions, including higher starting pay and retention bonuses, as efforts by the vendor to address driver shortages.

The district explained how the state’s minimum local contribution (MLC) and foundation enrollment calculations affect assessments for the three member towns. Using the draft figures presented, Perry said the district’s collective assessment remained at about $41.3 million, but the distribution changed: Salisbury would see a hypothetical reduction of roughly $163,000, Newbury a reduction of about $83,500, and Rowley an increase of about $246,000 under the sample recalculation that layered next year’s MLC and enrollment figures into the formula.

Officials cautioned that the packet and numbers were preliminary; they said the governor’s budget proposal and Chapter 70 aid estimates were still subject to change. The district said it was assuming an increase in Chapter 70 of $156,900 based on current proposals but that final state revenue and regional transportation reimbursement rates would become clearer in the coming weeks and at the DESE Cherry Sheet updates.

Committee members described tight local finances and the difficulty of running two back‑to‑back overrides. Several select board representatives urged the school committee to seek alternatives to the state allocation formula, such as an alternative assessment, and asked district officials to continue to look for savings and clarifications before bringing a formal budget or override proposal to towns.

The district scheduled a budget workshop to prioritize requests and said principals’ submissions were data driven and focused on student needs rather than discretionary purchases. Perry said the draft “level services” budget figure under discussion was about $3.1 million in additional costs (presented as a level‑services increase), and that final decisions on whether to propose an override would follow further analysis and the school committee’s prioritization work.

Officials said they will return with updated healthcare figures and transportation details as negotiations and state budget guidance solidify.