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Questions remain as budgets go to public hearing May 12

SHARON — Continuing to seek clarification of the methods used by the state Board of Education to compute the annual Minimum Budget Requirement (MBR), key to the Board of Education’s budget process, the Board of Finance voted unanimously on Tuesday, April 18, to forward the proposed town 2023-24 education spending plan to a public hearing without its approval.

Board of Finance Chair Tom Bartram reported that he had sent a letter to the state Department of Education that included questions about the MBR. Bartram said that he hopes that a response from the state will be received in advance of the public hearing. Should a timely response be received, he said, the Board of Finance could meet to review the response.

The current gross budget that includes spending for both the Sharon Center School (SCS) and expense for Region One is $6,123,789 with a Net Budget of $6,114,451. The SCS budget apart from Region One totals $4,514,327, increasing by $1,756 over the current budget (0.04%), anticipated to return to the town as unexpended at year’s end.

The public hearing on both the town and the education budget proposals will be held on Friday, April 28, at the Town Hall, beginning at 7 p.m. Copies of both proposed budgets are available at the Town Hall or on the Board of Finance page on the town website: www.sharonct.org.

The finance board went on to approve the selectmen’s 5-year capital spending plan, clearing the way for the plan to be considered at the budget town meeting scheduled for Friday, May 12.

Continuing their efforts to understand the MBR process, the Board of Finance voted unanimously to add the MBR to the agenda for its next meeting on Tuesday, May 16. Finance board member Lyman Whelan has agreed to provide his understanding of how the MBR is computed, based in part on a recent meeting with Region One Business Manager Sam Herrick.

Leila Hawken

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