Georgia Elementary & Middle School budget revote set for Tuesday, April 2 | Schools
Georgia Elementary & Middle School as seen from above. Georgia voters need to revote on the school’s fiscal year 2025 budget on April 2.
GEORGIA — Town of Georgia residents will vote on a revised budget for Georgia Elementary & Middle School this upcoming Tuesday, April 2.
The revote was triggered by the school budget failing to pass – 498 yes to 580 no – on Town Meeting Day. GEMS’ budget was one of 30 to fail statewide this year, due to voters’ concerns about hefty increases to property taxes.
The revised budget is $17,735,760, a $170,000 decrease from the budget proposed by the school board in March. Franklin West Supervisory Union Superintendent John Tague said it was difficult to make cuts without impacting student experience.
“I think Georgia has always been fiscally conservative,” he told the Messenger. “They’ve always spent less than the state average per pupil. Continuing in that realm makes it difficult for us to do budget cuts because there’s never a lot to trim.”
The majority of the $170,000 budget cut came from board members deciding to put less money into the school’s capital reserve fund, which is used for building repairs and maintenance. The board had initially proposed adding $200,000 to the fund; with the revised budget, it will add just $100,000. The reserve fund is currently depleted from a recent upgrade of GEMS’ boiler system.
“The thought was we could put some of that money back into the capital fund, so that…if an emergency repair comes up, we have the flexibility to fix it without impacting the regular budget,” Tague said. “Now, we’ll just [build the fund back up] at a slower rate.”
In the revised budget, GEMS will also pay less to the Franklin West Supervisory Union. Because GEMS is part of the union, Georgia taxpayers must contribute to the cost of FWSU administrators and the district’s paraeducators and special educators. Tague said he was able to find alternate funding for one of the positions, which will lower the cost for Georgia, as well as Fairfax and Fletcher.
If passed, the revised budget will alleviate some of the expected increase to property taxes. The owner of a $250,000 assessed home will see their taxes increase by $619 instead of $669.
But voters should know the majority of the increase does not come from the school. The impact to taxpayers’ wallets comes from education spending as a whole in Vermont and Georgia’s Common Level of Appraisal, used as a variable in the state’s funding formula.
Schools in Vermont are not funded locally; they are funded statewide. In other words, all Vermont property taxpayers contribute to GEMS’ budget, not just residents of Georgia. The CLA ensures people contribute fairly to the state’s education fund based on the assessed value of their home. Problem is, many homes’ fair market value is higher than they are appraised for in the town’s books.
“We understand that it is a significant increase in taxes,” Tague said. “…Unfortunately, if this budget isn’t successful, we’ll have to start impacting students and programs. Hopefully, we don’t get to that because Georgia is a great place for students to learn.”
Tague said Georgia students typically perform above the state average on statewide assessments, and he hopes the school won’t need to cut back on intervention and personnel.
Voters can learn more about the newly proposed budget at the informational meeting set for 6 p.m. Monday, April 1, at the GEMS library. Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, at GEMS.
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