Voters back schools budget

A $20.37 million district school budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year was approved by voters on March 3. According to a published report shared through the RNESU.org website, the budget passed by a 1,098 to 877 margin in the six member towns.

See also:

• "Otter Valley budget hike called 'slight,'" 01 Mar 2020.
• "Schools release annual report, budget for 2020," 16 Feb 2020.

Otter Valley budget hike called 'slight'

Otter Valley Unified Union School District's proposed spending increase for next year is "slight," according to a February 28, 2020, report in the Rutland Herald. The newspaper noted that the proposed fiscal year 2021 budget is 2.22 percent higher than the current budget.

The budget was presented to the public at the annual school district meeting, February 26, 2020, at the Otter Valley Union High School auditorium. The district plans to spend $20,377,427, according to its annual report. That amount results in equalized per pupil education spending of $15,399, an increase of 3.86 percent increase over the current year but reportedly still below the state average.

The annual report states that the budget increase is due in large part to an increase in the cost of health insurance.

District residents will vote on the budget proposal at the usual polling places on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Voting in the Town of Whiting will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.

The school district is comprised of the towns of Whiting, Sudbury, Leicester, Brandon, Pittsford and Goshen. It includes Otter Creek Academy (preschool/elementary school with campuses in Whiting, Sudbury and Leicester), Neshobe School (preschool/elementary school in Forest Dale, serving Brandon, Forest Dale and Goshen), Lothrop School (preschool/elementary school in Pittsford) and Otter Valley Union Middle and High School (Brandon).

Schools release annual report, budget for 2020

The Otter Valley Schools - officially known as the Otter Valley Unified Union School District - has released its annual report for last year and its spending plan for 2020. The document was mailed to residences in the district and was made available online at www.rnesu.org (see below). The report includes a variety of information on the schools in the district, budget data, minutes of the annual district meeting from 2019 and a "warning" for the 2020 Annual District Meeting, scheduled for the Otter Valley High School auditorium on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting will be recessed to Tuesday, March 3, 2020 (Town Meeting Day), for the purpose of voting by Australian ballot on school board members and a new spending plan of $20,377,427, representing an overall annual spending increase of 3.86 percent.

2020 Annual School District Meeting

OVUHS Auditorium

Franklin Street (Route 7)

Brandon, Vermont

Wednesday, February 26, 2020.

at 6:30 p.m.

Town meeting, Tuesday, March 7

Town Meeting Day is 

Tuesday, March 7, 2017. 

Legal voters of the Town of Whiting, VT, are called to attend the meeting at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall. Voters will elect a number of town officers, decide the fate of a $351,923 spending plan (of which $227,941 will be paid through local taxes) and consider other business.



Whiting's (stunningly gorgeous) 2016 Town Report is now available ONLINE!
Click here to access it.

The Town Hall (and other regular polling places in the Otter Valley Unified Union School District) will be open during the day, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. to vote on the school district budget for the coming fiscal year and to fill school board vacancies. (Click for a sample ballot.) The school board has proposed a $19.7 million spending plan, representing a 1.47% "per equalized pupil" spending increase over the current year.

The school district's annual report also is available online. Click here to access it.

Busy March 1 for VT voters

Voters will be kept busy on March 1.

Democratic and Republican Presidential Primaries will be held during the day. Vermont balloting is part of Super Tuesday, when a dozen states and one territory express their preferences for party nominees for President. In addition to Vermont, the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia will hold primaries. Alaska Republicans will caucus. Democrats in Colorado and American Samoa will indicate their Presidential preferences through caucuses.
(See Burlington Free Press story.)

Australian ballot voting on the 2016-17 Otter Valley Unified Union School District budget of $22.6 million will be held in district towns. Whiting voters will vote at the Whiting Town Hall from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The annual school meeting for the Whiting Town School District will begin at 7:15 p.m. at the Town Hall. Attendees will consider a $633,161 spending plan.

The annual Town Meeting will immediately follow the school meeting. A proposed municipal budget of $365,602 will be decided. Spending in the plan has increased by $65,350 over the 2015 budget. The amount funded through local taxes is to decrease, however, by an amount of $16,842. The town selectmen anticipates that the town tax rate will drop from $0.53 to $0.49.

In addition, the Town Meeting will elect the following officers:

• Select board member for a term of three years, 
• Lister for a term of three years,
• Auditor for a term of three years,
• Collector of delinquent taxes
• Library trustee for a term of three years
• Road commissioner
• First constable
• Second constable
• Town Juror
• Town Agent

Voters to decide school budgets

Whiting voters will assemble at the Town Hall at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, to hear a presentation of the Otter Valley Unified Union School District budget for the 2016-17 year. The meeting will be recessed to Australian ballot voting on the budget from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, at the Town Hall.

The Otter Valley Unified Union School District, according to a plan approved by the towns of Brandon, Goshen, Leicester, Pittsford, Sudbury and Whiting, is scheduled to begin operation on July 1, 2016. Its proposed budget for 2016-17 is $22.6 million, an equalized per pupil rate of $14,495.

At 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, the annual school meeting will be held. Voters will elect a moderator for a term of one year, a school district treasurer for a term of one year and a school director for a term of three years. In addition, voters will be asked to approve the expenditure of $633,161 ($12,606 per equalized pupil) by the Whiting Town School District. This amount represents a 9.24 percent spending decrease per equalized pupil as compared with the current year.

Annual Town Meeting is March 3

Town Meeting Day is March 3, 2015. Whiting's Annual School Meeting will open at 7:15 p.m. at the Whiting Town Hall, with the Annual Town Meeting following immediately afterward. Budget proposals for the school district and the town will be presented and voted on.

Meeting attendees also will elect a Select Board member, Lister, Auditor and Library Trustee for three-year terms, as well as a Collector of Delinquent Taxes, Road Commissioner, First and Second Constable, Town Juror and Town Agent.

The school meeting will consider a $664,735 spending plan for the Whiting Town School District. Voters approved $612,360 (including a floor amendment addition of $26,800 for a pre-kindergarten program) for the schools at the 2014 meeting. So the current plan would include a spending increase of $52,375 or 8.55%. This is the second-highest percentage jump for any town in the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union. Only the Town of Goshen would see its spending increase by a greater percentage, 28.9%. (The average spending increase for union towns would be 1.48%.)

The resulting homestead education tax rate for Whiting would be 1.50, an increase of 12.9% over the current 1.3281. The owner of a homestead property valued at $200,000, for example, would see education taxes rise $343.80 this year, from a level of $2,656.20 to $3,000.00, under the proposed spending plan. No town in the union district would experience a higher percentage increase or a higher tax rate. (The Town of Pittsford's tax rate would also be 1.50, after a jump of just 5.24%.)

The town meeting will consider a $300,252 proposed spending plan for the town, of which $179,321 would come from taxes. Last year's meeting approved a $290,591 budget with $158,026.21 from taxes. The budget proposal contains a $9,661 or 3.32% spending increase and an increase of $21,294.79 or 13.47% in the amount to come from taxes.

Also on the agenda for the town meeting is a proposal for the town to appropriate funds for the creation of a wall or plaque acknowledging the military veterans of Whiting.

OVUHS district meeting Feb. 26, 2014

A meeting of the Otter Valley Union High School District No. 8 will be held 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014, at the OVUHS auditorium. At the meeting, the Board of School Directors will present an estimate of district expenses for the year beginning July 1, 2014. A budget of $10.52 million has been proposed. That amount is $16,351 less than the current year's budget, but still requires a tax increase over the current year.

In the district's annual report (click here to access the full report), OVUHS Board Chair James Rademacher explained the belt-tightening process, "We felt that a budget that would maintain the status quo would be too much for the voters to accept. Three retiring senior teachers being replaced with new hired much lower on the pay scale was a significant help but not enough. All areas of staffing were carefully reviewed. After consultation with administration, faculty, and students the Board has decided to discontinue the Dean of Students position."

Aside from the staffing adjustments, Mr. Rademacher said, "We are proposing to basically level fund our budget while dealing with the same inflationary pressures you are all facing."

Voting on the budget will be conducted in the usual polling places on Tuesday, March 4.

The agenda for the Feb. 26 meeting includes the following articles:

1. To elect the following officers: a. A Moderator for one year; b. A Clerk for one year; c. A Treasurer for one year; d. An Auditor for three years.
2. To act upon the reports of the Union High School District Officers.
3. To fix the compensation of the District Officers.
4. To have presented by the Board of School Directors of the Union High School District its estimate of expenses for the ensuing year.
5. To authorize the Board of School Directors of the Union High School District to borrow money pending the receipt of payments from the member districts by the issuance of its notes or orders payable not later than one year from date of issue for the purpose of paying sums appropriated by the Union High School District.
6. To transact any other business proper to be done when met.

The meeting will be recessed to March 4 for balloting on the final agenda item:
"Shall the voters of the Otter Valley Union High School District No. 8 adopt a budget of Ten Million Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Seven Hundred Seventeen Dollars ($10,525,717) necessary for the support of its schools for the year beginning July 1, 2014. The amount of such sum to be raised by taxes to be offset by special education revenues, state aid and other incomes."

Under the proposed spending plan, the estimated homestead base tax rate districtwide would increase by almost 7.6% from $1.45 to $1.56. Member towns would experience different tax impacts. All member towns except Leicester would experience tax increases for the year. The towns of Whiting, Goshen and Pittsford would experience increases of 10% or more. The estimated increases for member towns are shown below:

Brandon +04.6% to $0.68
Goshen +10.2% to $0.97
Leicester -02.5% to $0.78
Pittsford +10.0% to $0.77
Sudbury +03.9% to $0.76
Whiting +10.0% to $0.66