LITCHFIELD — Taxpayers in the new Regional School District 20 — which serves students in Litchfield, Goshen, Morris and Warren — could face a tax increase of 15% or more in the next fiscal year.
The district, formed July 1, 2024, is projected to have a $2.3 million deficit when the fiscal year ends on June 30, financial consultant Thomas Ariola told the Board of Education on Thursday night at Lakeview High School. One of the main reasons for the deficit is that revenues have come in much lower than expected.
Acting Superintendent Kristen Della Volpe said actual revenue is $739,062 less than what was adopted in the current budget. Some grants came in lower than anticipated.
Chief Operating Officer Julia Cardillo said revenue is down, in part, because the tuition projection from out-of-district students was too high, based on the number of students enrolled. Projections in Medicaid reimbursements and the renting of district facilities are not coming in nearly as much as what was budgeted.
Della Volpe said expenditures are $1,204,783 over what the district had planned on spending.
Ariola said the administration is curtailing spending everywhere it can. He said the deficit may be a little higher or lower than he’s currently projecting but “there’s no way out of paying it. It’s just what’s the least painful way?”
Della Volpe presented a “draft” budget for 2025-26. Thus far, not including the $2.3 million projected deficit for 2024-25, the budget would require a 6.8% increase in spending, from $41 million to $43.9 million.
Board member Matthew Terzian said that a 7% budget increase equates to about a 17% increase in taxes.
“I couldn’t vote for that,” he said. “ I couldn’t do that to our taxpayers. I just want to make sure we’re looking everywhere (for reductions).”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Goshen Board of Finance member Robert Valentine said to give the Region 20 school board a better idea of the potential tax burden, the median assessment of a house in his hometown is nearly $600,000.
He said if Goshen increased its budget by 4%, and Region 20 went up 11%, Goshen’s tax rate would go up by 3.5 mills, from 14.2 mills to 17.7 mills, or 25%. At an assessment of $600,000, the property owner would pay $2,100 more in taxes, from $8,520 to $10,620.
'Detrimental to so many people'
Litchfield First Selectman Denise Rapp read a letter on behalf of the four towns’ first selectmen and finance board members, saying that the Region 20 board has spent more than it is legally allowed and asked that it “immediately discontinue spending more than was approved by our taxpayers.” It should call a district meeting, if it can “make the case” that it needs more money.
“We are supportive of a school budget that’s reasonable,” Rapp said. “But if we approve a budget that requires a 16% or 17% tax increase, that is going to be detrimental to so many people that live in our towns.”
Della Volpe said the draft budget includes the reduction of the equivalent of 12 full-time staff members, a 15% increase in health insurance, heating oil at $2.45 per gallon, an increase in grant funding for special education students, $13,500 savings on technology efficiencies, and the possibility of saving more money through retirements and replacing them at a lower salary.
If the board wants to reduce the budget increase to 5.54%, it would need to cut $531,000 and closing the Litchfield Intermediate School would achieve that, she said. If it wants to increase spending by 4.8%, it could close the school and charge pay-to-play for high school sports, generating an additional $273,000.
Della Volpe said she is not recommending to close a school or implement pay-to-play but rather give the board “perspective of how much it takes to get where you need to go.”
Board member John Moroni, chairman of the board’s building utilization committee, said the committee went on a recent tour of the schools and came up with three options. One would be to close Litchfield Intermediate School, and move the 4th and 5th graders to Litchfield Center School, which has pre-kindergarten though third grade.
The second option is to close Litchfield Center School and move pre-kindergarten through third grade to the intermediate school.
The third option is to move the fifth grade into “some underutilized space” at the middle school, and then move pre-kindergarten through third grade into the intermediate school with the fouth-graders and close Center School.
Moroni said the committee is concerned about whether the district has the adequate space to make these moves, and whether closing a school would leave the district without any room to grow, should student enrollment at the elementary schools rise in the future.
“All a variety of concerns there,” he said. “There’s a lot of costs that need to analyzed. We need to talk a lot about planning and how feasible this would be.”
Enrollment districtwide is not expected to change much in 2025-26. In 23-24, enrollment was 1,387 students and 1,351 in 24-25.
As for the deficit, Della Volpe said the school board has options. First, it could bond for $2.5 million, “understanding that you want to bond more than what is owed because there are bonding fees you have to cover.”
On a 10-year bond for a property assessed at $250,000 would cost $23 per year in Litchfield, $18 in Goshen, $20 in Morris and $10 in Warren. This would require voter support at a referendum. The district could take out a 20-year bond, spreading out the cost to each town to lower amounts each year.
The district could also do a supplemental budget, whereby a one-time assessment charged to the towns would take care of the entire $2,346,000 debt at one time. Again, based on a $250,000 property, each taxpayer in Goshen would pay an additional $166 for that one year, $212 in Litchfield, $185 in Morris, and $98 in Warren. This would also require a referendum.
Or the district could do a supplemental for just $500,000. But the district would have to add the remaining balance of $1,846,000 into the FY26 budget. Under that scenario, Litchfield taxpayers would then pay an additional $45, $35 in Goshen, $39 in Morris and $21 in Warren.
Meanwhile, Della Volpe said she needs to find out from the state whether the district needs to meet its minimum budget requirement or whether it can qualify for a waiver. It may qualify because “newly formed school districts do not have to adhere to the MBR during the first fiscal year following its establishment,” she said.
The state's minimum budget requirement prohibits districts from budgeting less for education than the previous year.
“We need to get an answer on MBR before we pursue any of the options,” Della Volpe said.
Board members also plan to find out the status of a legislative bill that would grant $1.5 million from the state for the creation of the regional school district.
March 17, 2025
Kurt Moffett
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