Voters can discuss and amend the Jaffrey-Rindge School District’s proposed warrant during the district’s Deliberative Session on Wednesday.
The budget is the only article expected to directly impact the tax rate for the coming year. The district is proposing a total budget of $26,768,736, about a 3 percent increase from last year.
The estimated tax impact of passing this article in a 81 cent increase per $1,000 of assessed value for Jaffrey and an increase of $1.85 per $1,000 of assessed value for Rindge.
The default budget, which will be adopted if district voters do not pass the proposed budget, is set at $27,142,266.
Article 3 would allow the district to retain up to 5% of the budget per year, which can be used for emergency expenses in the following year. Before the district can use the funds, the School Board must first hold a public hearing.
The district has already approved a similar measure that allows the district to retain up to 2.5% of the budget for emergency purposes. The law that allows that has been updated in 2020, to allow up to 5 percent, and streamlining some of the requirements for expending the funds.
Article 4 requests to use $25,000 from the unexpended fund balance for 2020 for the Special Education Contingency Fund. The fund was established to pay for special education services or staff for students who move into the district during the school year.
Article 5 requests to use $350,000 from the 2020 fund balance for the district’s Building Maintenance Capital Reserve. The funds are intended to be used to continue to repair the parking lots at the district’s three schools.
There is a School Board meeting scheduled immediately following deliberative session, where the School Board intends to take votes regarding the School Board’s recommendation of all warrant articles.
The district’s deliberative session is scheduled to be held on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Rindge Memorial School gymnasium. The snow date for the meeting is Thursday, at the same time and place. This meeting will be broadcast via Zoom, but there will be no ability for members of the public who join via Zoom to participate in the deliberative session through public comment. If you wish to participate in the meeting, you must attend in person.
Voting on all warrant articles is scheduled for March 9 at the town election polls in Jaffrey and Rindge. Jaffrey residents are to vote at the Jaffrey-Rindge Middle School Pratt Auditorium, and Rindge voters are to vote at the Rindge Memorial School Gymnasium. Polls remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.