Officials still working on BMR budget

MILLVILLE — Hoping to avoid another contentious budget cycle, Millville town officials held a workshop meeting last week with members of the Blackstone-Millville Regional School Committee to open up dialogue and hash out concerns.

While the dialogue was civil, there were no shortage of concerns about money, transparency and trust.

This is likely to be the third consecutive year that both Millville and Blackstone will be asked to approve additional contributions to the school budget, but how to pay for those increases every year has town officials in Millville worrying about the future.

“Basically, we’re in a situation

now where there’s no more money to give,” Finance Committee Chairman Paul Ouellette said at the meeting. “It’s just as bad, if not worse, than last year.”

Ouelette said Millville’s preliminary budget for fiscal 2018, which includes level funding for the schools, is already projecting a $210,000 deficit, and there is serious concern whether Millville can afford increasingly higher contributions to the school budget.

“Our town departments have suffered at the expense of the schools,” Ouellette said. “It’s not a personal issue. It’s a numbers issue.”

“All of our reserves and resources are diminishing dramatically,” added Selectmen Chairman Joseph Rapoza. “In a couple of years this town could be in receivership.”

Schools Superintendent Allen W. Himmelberger and his leadership and team have been able to whittle a proposed $2,216,000 school budget increase for next year down to $1,670,598. As of last week, the proposed increase in spending includes $54,000 for new staff; $112,000 for curriculum; $176,000 for technology; $165,000 for transportation; $74,000 for special education; $90,000 for facilities and maintenance; $651,000 for contractual; $120,000 for insurance and benefits; and $228,598 for other.

Himmelberger and his

staff, including Assistant Schools Supt. David Thomson and Finance Director Cobb, are continuing to work to lower the increase before a revised draft of the budget is presented to the regional school board for adoption on Thursday.

The budget will go before voters in Millville on May 8 and in Blackstone on May 30.

Schools officials say lower Chapter 70 funding, increases in health insurance and special education costs, reduced statelevel grants and less reimbursement for transportation costs, are all driving the budget increase this year.

“We’re in dire straights as well,” said School Committeewoman Jan Regio. “And out students are suffering as a result.”

Himmelberger says fiscal year 2018 is shaping up to be one of the most challenging budget cycles in recent memory.

“In the past eight years the school budget has grown by .61 percent per year, so in eight years we’ve grown less than 5 percent,” Himmelberger said. “It’s impossible to run a school district in today’s world at that level of funding.”

“In four of those eight years in the past, our budget was reduced from the year before,” he added.

The Blackstone-Millville Regional School District’s $21.9 million budget for fiscal 2016-2017 included a lower additional contribution from Millville, which excluded the

need for a district-wide “super town meeting,” but decreased the committee’s certified school budget by $80,000 for a total budget increase of less than 1 percent.

It was Himmelberger’s recommendation to accept Millville’ offer of $40,000 in additional contributions, instead of the original $63,000 the committee had requested. The $40,000 was offered as a compromise by Millville town officials after voters in that town failed to approve the $63,000 figure. By accepting the $40,000 compromise, Millville’s additional contribution went to $160,000 and Blackstone’s contribution was lowered from $467,000 to $410,000. That combined drop decreased the School Committee’s certified budget of $22,035,635 to $21,955,635, which represents a .75 percent increase.

Going forward, Millville Town Administrator Jennifer Callahan said Monday that both sides have to join forces as a community.

“We have to plan as a community and we have to start thinking about how we can join forces and not be divided,” she said. “If we can get through this budget cycle we need to have start thinking about next year.”

Himmelberger agreed, saying “we’re both facing similar challenges and we need to rebuilt trust and a partnership.”