Rutland City School Board members voted to ratify the ballot language for the fiscal 2026 school budget and heard staffs presentation showing a recommended top-line spending figure and a preliminary estimate of the districts homestead tax rate.

The board approved the exact ballot language read aloud at the meeting, which includes a top-line spending figure stated in the text as "$67,000,000, 187,000" (as presented to the board) and a district-calculated per-pupil education spending of $12,197, a 1.7% decrease from the current year. Superintendent Ted and Controller Tim Smith told the board the $1.61 homestead tax-rate figure is preliminary and depends on a state-set homestead yield that may change during the legislative session.

Board members said the budget is tight but intended to preserve staffing and core services. Administration said the $3.7 million increase in employee compensation is the primary driver of the budget increase; other non-labor expenditures were reduced or deferred where feasible. Administration also highlighted that the districts long-term weighted average daily membership (ADM) rose in the most recent AOE (Agency of Education) reporting, which helped reduce per-pupil education spending.

Controller Tim Smith walked the board through the mathematics used to produce the preliminary tax-rate estimate. He explained the four inputs used to compute the homestead rate: education spending (the budget after offsets), long-term weighted ADM, the homestead yield (set by the state), and the adjusted common level of appraisal (CLA). With the numbers presented at the meeting (education spending per pupil $12,196; ADM ~3,554; CLA 88.36%), staff calculated a preliminary homestead tax rate of $1.61, versus the prior years $1.67 — a drop of about six cents. Smith and Superintendent Ted repeatedly cautioned the board that the homestead yield remains the major variable and is not finalized until the legislative process concludes, so the $1.61 figure could change.

Administration highlighted other budget details: total recommended expenditures were presented in the $67 million range; the increase for fiscal 2026 is driven nearly entirely by employee compensation increases (salary and benefits), which account for roughly 80% of the districts budget. The presentation noted the budget maintains funding for essential building and safety needs (examples given: access controls and a multiyear districtwide phone system replacement) and pointed to a multi-month outreach plan where staff will make themselves available to answer community questions about the budget and the ballot language.

Asked by board members, staff confirmed that projections include current estimates of federal and other offsetting revenues; the net request to the state (education funding after offsets) was shown in the presentation and used to derive the per-pupil figure the ballot language requires.

Ending

After the presentation, the board moved and approved the required ballot language, with the formal motion carried by voice vote. Staff said they will continue public outreach and noted again that any final tax-rate estimate is subject to state-level changes, particularly the homestead yield.