North Middlesex finance committee previews FY27 budget with 3.06% districtwide increase projected

The North Middlesex Regional School District finance committee on Dec. 16 discussed a draft FY2027 budget that administration said would represent a 3.06% increase over the FY2026 figure and could translate to about a 4% average assessment across the three member towns.

Finance director Nancy Haines told the committee the draft is “at a 3.06 increase over FY ’26 right now,” and that a budget narrative and supporting documents would be released to the committee later in the week. She said the district is modeling the budget as a level-services package with a few targeted changes.

Why it matters: the administration said recent changes in student placements have produced a roughly $1,000,000 reduction in projected tuition costs for FY27, a single factor that substantially lowers the current proposed increase. Haines said the district is also planning to use $2,900,000 of circuit-breaker funds in the FY27 scenario to offset tuition expenditures and target roughly one year of circuit-breaker balance as a reserve.

Budget drivers and uncertainty: the committee heard that charter and choice assessments have come in higher and were bumped in the draft pending the governor’s Chapter 70/71 numbers. Haines cautioned that those numbers could change when the governor’s budget is released and that town assessments in the current scenario would average about 4%; she said getting to a 3% assessment across towns would require roughly $400,000 in additional cuts.

Staffing and special education: administration explained that some staffing increases reflect restoring Education Team Leader roles and adding special-education teacher and service positions to ensure compliance with students’ IEPs. The superintendent said one ETL will start in January and the district is advocating to hire a third to reduce the director’s meeting load.

Next steps: the administration expects to receive GIC retiree-insurance numbers and the governor’s proposal in January; the committee scheduled a Jan. 13 morning meeting to review updated figures and finalize materials for the public hearing. The committee did not take any budget votes at the Dec. 16 meeting.

Ending: the committee asked staff to prepare additional detail on the items that could be cut to reach a 3% assessment and to provide a clearer presentation for the public hearing in January.