RVTC budget stays nearly flat
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By Josh O'Gorman Herald Staff - Published: January 12, 2009
SPRINGFIELD — Declining enrollment and fiscal conservatism has resulted in an increase of less than 1 percent for the proposed budget for the River Valley Technical Center.
The RVTC Board of Directors adopted a proposed budget Wednesday for fiscal year 2009-10 of $2,969,022, which is an increase of $6,862, or about one-quarter of 1 percent, more than the current budget of $2,962,160.
The full budget amount will appear on separate ballots on Town Meeting Day for the 10 towns that comprise the four member districts of RVTC — Bellows Falls, Black River and Green Mountain union high school districts, as well as the Springfield School District.
"The board worked very hard to make sure the assessment increased no more than 3 percent," said RVTC Director Carl Mock. The assessment is the amount of money paid on top of education funding from the state. This year's assessment of $3,518 is 3 percent, or $101, more than the current assessment of $3,417.
Under the proposed budget, each member district — as well as more than a dozen towns that pay tuition to send their students — will pay $10,951 per full-time equivalent student, based on the average enrollment over the past six semesters as reported every Oct. 15 and March 15.
For RVTC, this means the average number of students each district sent to RVTC between March 15, 2006, and Oct. 15, 2008.
Of the 15 technical schools the state, Mock said, RVTC is consistently near the bottom in tuition costs.
For three of the four member districts, the average enrollment is declining, resulting in a decline in the money each district will pay to the RVTC under the proposed budget. The most dramatic decrease is for the Springfield School District, which will see its assessment decrease $22,751, or 3.6 percent, from $636,464 to $613,713.
Residents of Ludlow and Mount Holly — which comprise the Black River Union High School District — will see their assessment decrease $18,457, or 12.5 percent, from $147,737 to $129,280.
Voters in the Green Mountain Union High School District — Andover, Chester, Cavendish — will see their assessment drop slightly by $2,546, or .9 percent, from $275,727 to $273,181.
Voters in Athens, Grafton, Rockingham and Westminster — which make up the Bellows Falls Union High School District — will see their assessment increase $6,242, or 2.4 percent, from $258,725 to $264, 967.
While each community's share is different, voters in each town will be presented the entire proposed budget amount when they vote on Town Meeting Day. To let residents know how the budget will affect them, in February, RVTC will mail about 14,000 informational brochures that explain each community's share of the budget.
In addition, there will be a public informational meeting immediately following the RVTC annual meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Springfield High School cafeteria.
Budget information will also be posted soon on the district's Web site www.rvtc.org.
Contact Josh O'Gorman at josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com.
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