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everychild. onevoice.
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Dear
For more information about the Bolton Budget process and to estimate your town tax increase please visit www.boltonpta.org.
Sincerely,
PTA Legislative Advocacy Committee
Important Events:
Tuesday,
May 6th, 2008
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
The approximate
tax increase = 5.6%
PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE
All parents are urged
to exercise their civic responsibility
and vote!
MARK YOUR
CALENDARS NOW!
Information provided by the
2008-09 Town Tax Estimation Table for a Proposed Tax Increase of 5.6%.
|
If your annual tax bill is: |
Here is the additional amount you would pay next YEAR with a
5.6% tax increase: |
Here is the net cost of that same tax increase if you itemize
your taxes and are in the 28% bracket: |
Here is the additional amount you would pay each MONTH: |
Here is the net cost you would pay each MONTH if you itemize
your taxes and are in the 28% bracket: |
Here is the additional amount you would pay each DAY: |
Here is the net cost you would pay each DAY if you itemize your
taxes and are in the 28% bracket: |
|
$3,000 |
$168 |
$121 |
$14 |
$10 |
$0.47 |
$0.34 |
|
$4,000 |
$224 |
$161 |
$19 |
$13 |
$0.62 |
$0.45 |
|
$5,000 |
$280 |
$202 |
$23 |
$17 |
$0.78 |
$0.56 |
|
$6,000 |
$336 |
$242 |
$28 |
$20 |
$0.93 |
$0.67 |
|
$7,000 |
$392 |
$282 |
$33 |
$24 |
$1.09 |
$0.78 |
|
$8,000 |
$448 |
$323 |
$37 |
$27 |
$1.24 |
$0.90 |
|
$9,000 |
$504 |
$363 |
$42 |
$30 |
$1.40 |
$1.01 |
Here's how the education budget is developed each year:
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School administrators submit their proposed spending to the school superintendent, who adds to or deletes from these requests.
-
The superintendent then submits a proposed budget to the Bolton Board of Education, which is comprised of members of the Bolton community who were elected to serve in this volunteer capacity.
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The Board of Education holds a series of workshops to consider each line item in this budget. Residents are invited to these workshops to discuss areas of support or concern.
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The Board of Education then submits a final budget to the Board of Finance, which also receives a town budget at the same time from the Board of Selectmen.
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The Board of Finance holds budget hearings that all residents may attend. Residents are encouraged to speak at these hearings on the proposed town and education budgets. The tax increase necessary to support these budgets is discussed.
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Based on what they hear from residents, the Board of Finance may order the Board of Education and/or the Selectmen to make cuts in their budgets, or it may allow to budget to stand as is. According to town charter, the Board of Finance cannot make specific cuts to the education budget; for example, the Board cannot say "eliminate one teaching position" or "eliminate sports." The Board of Finance can only order a certain amount to be cut -- it is then up to the Board of Education to designate where those cuts will be made.
-
A townwide vote (referendum) on the final proposed budget is held each May. Referendums will continue to be held until the budget is approved. After each failed referendum, the Board of Finance can put forth the same budget or a lower budget for the next vote, but according to town charter they cannot propose a higher amount.
Q: What if we pass
the budget but then get more money from the state than what had been
expected? Can lost programs be restored?
A: Unfortunately, no. If the town gets any increase
in state aid for education after the budget is passed, this will result in
a decrease in taxes and NOT an increase in spending
and reinstatement of programs for the education budget (per town charter).
Q: Will large tax
increases be the norm from year to year?
A: The need to pay off some short-term loans this year is contributing to
the tight budget situation. The Board of Finance expects next year will be
a bit easier for the town. And with sewers going in around the Bolton Lake
area, the town hopes for some commercial development to follow, which will
help ease the tax burden on residents.
Q: Town spending has increased at a
nominal rate over the past 10 years or so, keeping pace with inflation. Why has education
spending increased at a higher rate?
A: If you remove special-education costs from the education budget, the spending increases
over the years for education have kept pace with town spending increases. What has driven
it up is the cost for special education programs, which has skyrocketed in the past few
years. These excellent programs are mandated by law but, unfortunately, the government does not
provide enough funding to help small towns such as ours to pay for these programs. In
other words, we are told what we must provide (and we agree with the need
and responsibility to provide them) but are not given the money we need to
fund them -- so town taxpayers must pay for these mandated programs.
Q: Many people don’t want more
commercial development in town. How does this impact taxes?
A: Each voter must decide for himself how to weigh three major issues that are
interrelated – preserving the town’s rural qualities, maintaining quality in
Bolton schools, and paying higher taxes. If we do not want certain types of commercial
development, then we as residents will continue to shoulder the tax burden. If we want to
continue to maintain open space, we must be willing to pay for it.
Q: Are Bolton teachers highly paid? And
how much in insurance co-pays do they contribute?
A: If you look at all teachers' salaries in the state and divide them into thirds (highest
salaries, middle salaries, and lowest salaries), the salaries of Bolton teachers fall in
the top half of that lowest third. Also, teachers’ co-pays for insurance are between
13% and 20% – among the highest in the state.
Q: Why do kids need things like
computers in schools, when they never had them before?
A: Because today’s world is a different world. We’re a global society
now, and students need new types of knowledge in order to succeed. In Bolton, our kids
don’t have the best of everything. What they have is a good, solid foundation of the
things they need to learn.
Q: If I don’t have kids in the school
system, why should I care about the schools?
A: Any realtor will tell you that the quality of the schools is directly
linked to property values. For most people, their home is their major investment, and
in Bolton that investment continues to appreciate.
Board of Education Budget Percentage Increases, 2000-2005 -- This shows how much the school budget has increased over the past 6 years
Percentage Increase of Education Cost-Sharing that Bolton Received from the State of Connecticut, 2000-2006 -- This shows how much the town has received from the state of Connecticut for education expenses over the past 7 years.
- May 13: Budget Referendum
If you want to get involved in helping the town through the budget process, we invite you to join the PTA's Legislative/Advocacy Committee, which works toward two goals: (1) sharing the facts about the school budget and (2) encouraging all residents to vote the day of the referendum.
If you can help or want to learn more, please contact Sylvia Ounpuu, the chair of the Legislative/Advocacy Committee, at 649-8644 or ounpuu.adams@comcast.net.
The Legislative/Advocacy Committee is open to ANY additional ideas, comments, suggestions, concerns. We welcome anyone else to this committee who would like to help. You don't have to be a parent or a PTA member to participate.