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Brookline deliberative session debates rescinding district authority to retain unassigned funds
Summary
A petition warrant article would rescind the Brookline School District’s authority to retain unassigned general funds and instead return those funds to taxpayers; proponents urged contingency funds and capital reserves as transparent alternatives, while attendees argued it would micromanage the elected board.
Moderator read Article 9, a petition asking whether the Brookline School District should rescind its authorization under RSA 198:4‑b II to retain unassigned general funds and return any unassigned balance to taxpayers. The moderator noted the school board did not recommend the article and that the finance committee registered a recommending vote.
Eric Power introduced the article and told the assembly that rescinding the retention authority would return excess year‑end funds to reduce the following year’s tax rate. "You can have a warrant article each year with a fixed dollar amount," he said, adding that capital reserve funds or expendable trust funds are more transparent ways to plan for contingencies than a rolling retained balance.
Rob Rushton countered that the article as drafted does not establish a general contingency fund and therefore does not substitute for the district’s current end‑of‑year buffer. "We do not have anything under this article that would substitute for the ability of this end‑of‑year buffer that we normally have," he said. Mike Pilarito told voters he opposed removing the board’s tool for handling underruns, calling it "micromanagement" of elected officials.
After limited public comment the moderator closed discussion and the meeting moved to the next article. No formal final vote on Article 9 was recorded at the session.
