New Milford Superintendent Proposes $2 Million Budget Hike

NEW MILFORD, CT — The interim superintendent has proposed a budget increase of 3.26 percent above the 2018-19 budget.

Interim Superintendent Stephen Tracy present his plan to the school board during a budget workshop Tuesday night. The new plan has also been posted online.

The bottom of line of $65,065,296 represents an increase of $2,054,710 over the current school year's operating plan.

Personnel, capital expenses and transportation costs are the big ticket items in the proposed plan.

Over $1 million of the $1.74 million overall budget increase comes from salaries. Above the 3 percent salary increases previously negotiated by the teachers, the new plan calls for the establishment of a director of curriculum and instruction; a second special education supervisor; and a "reserve teaching position" at Northville Elementary School, to be used in the event of an unexpected increase in K-5 enrollment.

The elimination of the "pay to play" provision for athletics docks $110,000 from the district's revenue, and a projected shortfall in state-supplied monies accounts for another $184,000 hit.

"Supporting a quality school system represents a substantial cost to the taxpayers of our community," Tracy wrote as part of the presentation. "Thankfully, our public schools continue to make very effective use of the resources that the town ,provides, as reflected in the fact that per pupil expenditures in New Milford are lower than all but twenty of Connecticut's 169 towns."

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