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Milford School Board votes to retain $200,000 as emergency fund
Summary
After discussing recent unanticipated high‑cost placements and existing trust balances, the Milford School Board voted 4‑0 to establish a $200,000 retained fund for emergency expenditures under RSA authority.
The Milford School Board voted unanimously to place $200,000 of the district’s anticipated fund balance into a retained emergency fund, a measure officials said is intended to help the district respond to unanticipated costs without revising the adopted budget.
Business administrator Ben Kilar told the board the district is projecting a final fund balance between $400,000 and $425,000 and recommended retaining $200,000 under the local‑retained fund authority cited in the presentation. "Our recommendation is that we retain $200,000 to establish that retained fund," Kilar said, adding that retained funds require a later public hearing and a vote before they may be spent.
Board members raised questions about the uses and the interplay with existing trust accounts for special education and maintenance, and asked how the retained dollars would be invested while held. A board member noted the district’s Special Education Trust currently stands near $348,000, and another suggested that retaining some dollars helps protect against future state or federal funding uncertainties.
After discussion, a motion to place $200,000 into the retention fund was moved, seconded and approved on a 4‑0 voice vote. Kilar said the tax‑rate impact of retaining those dollars rather than using them to offset next year’s tax rate would be roughly 9.6 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
The board’s action establishes the retained fund; any future use of those funds will require the public hearing and subsequent board vote that Kilar described.
