Board of Selectmen

Fire department Police department

Other

Finance Committee

Municipal Budget

School Committee

Finance Buildings Other Sub-Com.

School Budget

Great Barrington Budget: From Development to Town Meeting Approval(January – May) for Fiscal Year Ending June 30th

$12.5Million $12.0 Million

GB BOS and Finance Committee

Review

Vote

Analysis

Analysis

GB BOS and Finance Committee Review

Annual Town Meeting (May)

1

2

3

7

4

5

6

Sup’t /Business ManagerTown Manager

PresentationFinance Comm. Previews

Budget in March;Town has “Mini-Town

Meeting” in April when Q & A are taken

1

MUNICIPALITY• 1 BOS and Finance Comm. agree on “Budget Policy” which sets the assumptions of the budget to be developed. The different Town departments prepare

their budget which is divided into Operating budget and Capital expenditures.• Town Manager consolidates.• 2 These are presented to the GB Board of selectmen and Finance Committee and discussed;• 3 Amendments are made, by dept. and line items. These are either approved or disapproved by each body.

SCHOOL• 4 The Business Manager uses estimates to see what a “level program” budget would be, factoring in union contracts, inflation and estimated students. At

the same time, different school departments prepare their budgets which is divided in Operating budget and Capital and dept. The Business Manager consolidates and presents to their Finance Subcommittee. They consider whether changes should be made in programs, operating and capital expenditures.

• 5. These and other scenarios and State funding assumptions are presented to the School Committee and approved in January and presented in early February. Individual Town Boards then discuss the proposed School budget.

• 6 In early March, State funding assumptions for schools are formally provided and budgets are School budgets are adjusted accordingly. In early March, GB’s BOS and Finance Comm. meet and vote on the School budget.

CONSOLIDATIONDepending upon the impact of the School budget, municipal budgets are sometimes adjusted to manage the tax rate. The municipal and School budgets are voted on separately by the BOS and Finance Committee. Any differences between the BOS and Finance Committee are printed in April for the Annual Town Meeting in early May. Two preview meetings are held to communicate to the public: the Finance Committee presentation and Mini-Town meeting. Superintendent makes presentation at these meetings at ATM. • 7 At ATM, municipal capital expenditures are voted separately from operating budget; major departmental expenses are called out and during this process,

line item changes are entertained and voted upon. For School budget, no changes are entertained; the School budget is an “all or nothing” item at the Annual Town Meeting. (for more details see next slide on Budget approval process). If budget is not approved, another Town Meeting would be held to approve by end of fiscal year (June 30th).

• The complete organization of the town of great Barrington can be found at http://www.townofgb.org/Pages/GBarringtonMA_BOS/TownOrganizationChart%20Jan2014.pdf

• School Committee members can be found at http://www.bhrsd.org/school-committee-members/• Organization of sub-committees can be found http://www.bhrsd.org/school-committee-sub-committees/

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Great Barrington Budget: From Development to Town Meeting Approval(January – May) for Fiscal Year Ending June 30th

Budget Approval process

approved

Amended on floor

NoYes

NoYes

Municipal Budget School Budget

Special town meeting

AP BP UR DO GV EE TD

Approved by GB, S & WS A

P BP UR DO GV EE TD

Yes: 3 Towns

No: 2 Towns No: 1 TownNo: 3 Towns

Special town(s ) meeting(s)

No

If two towns reject

the budget

If three towns reject

the budget

Budget is determined by State giving 1/12th of last year budget each

month until budget is approved for dissenting town(s).

Special meeting(s) have

to take place for dissenting

towns

SC must develop a new budget and all 3 must have special town meetings to

approve.

If two towns accept

the budget, it carries. The

other town would need to hold

another ATM to formally approve.

3

• The main potential problem here is that:– if Great Barrington which pays 70% of the budget disapproves it – but Stockbridge and West-Stockbridge approve it

it is considered valid !!!

If the district agreement is revised, it should address this issue.

http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr41.html?section=05 where they say in (2) Initial Action by the Local Appropriating Authorities that "Notwithstanding provisions in the regional agreement to the contrary, approval of the budget shall require an affirmative vote of the appropriating authorities of two-thirds of the members."

Budget Approval process

4

Zoom on the School Budget and how it is funded

$12,5Millions

OperatingBudget

Capital+ Debt

Staff Salaries&

Every day bills +Reserves

“Called out by department” with line item consideration

Major investments

& funding voted as major

groups

ConsolidatedSchool Annual

Budget

FoundationBudget

According to Massachusetts,

how much Education should

cost for the district (GB, S & WS)

1

Minimum Local Contribution

According to the calculation of Massachusetts, WHAT MINIMUM each town of the district has to pay.

Extra Local Contribution

2

3

4

CH 70 State aid

Head count

Wealth

GB

S

WS

GB

S

WS

5

• 1 Massachusetts calculates a "foundation budget" which is designed to represent the total cost of providing an adequate education for all students.

• 2 Massachusetts calculates a Minimum Local Contribution based on property value and other specifics of the district to establish how much the district must contribute towards the foundation budget.

• 3 The eventual gap between those two previous numbers will be covered by Massachusetts and is known as the chapter 70 State Aid

• 4 The district is in fact paying much more than The Foundation Budget, adding an Extra Local Contribution

• Information http://www.massbudget.org/report_window.php?loc=Facts_10_22_10.html

Zoom on the School Budget and how it is funded

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