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BOE Budget Takes Shape in Madison

With final budgets starting to come together for different departments, the Board of Education (BOE) is looking at 3.65 percent budget increase request for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. School officials say the main reasons for the increase are factors beyond the control of the BOE, primarily health insurance costs.

The final requested budget number was approved at the BOE’s last regular meeting on Jan. 19. The final number came in at $55,786,204, an increase of $1,962,881 over last year’s spending, according to BOE Chair Jean Fitzgerald.

“Of the total budget $55,786,205, 75 percent is related to salary and benefits, five percent [to] debt, five percent [to] facilities (including utilities), and 15 percent [to] program expenditures,” she said. “Of the 3.65 percent increase, 2.47 percent was a result of the health insurance increase. Unfortunately, this increase is out of the board’s hands.”

The health insurance increase is an issue that will be reflected in numerous budgets, but it hit the BOE budget particularly hard this year.

“This year both the Town of Madison and Madison Public Schools are seeing an exorbitant increase in claims,” she said. “For many years, Madison’s claims have been below the state average for experience, and this is the year that we are seeing a steep increase. This increase is now consistent with many districts across the state. Without this unforeseen expenditure, the Board of Education 2016-2017 recommended budget [increase] would be 1.17 percent.”

First Selectman Tom Banisch confirmed the health insurance increase, but said the rise was not outside normal limits.

“Our rates, just like any other insurance, are based on our experience, so we have had a below average experience for several years in a row and this year our experience came up to a normal level,” he said. “We did have some big claims, but no different than other towns our size would have.”

Banisch said much of the increase was due to a change in the age demographic of the education staff in Madison.

“[Superintendent of Schools] Tom Scarice told me that several years ago a bunch of people took retirement,” he said. “The older staff went off the insurance and they hired a bunch of young people to replace them and now, five years later, those young people are having children.”

This change in age strongly affected the claim rate, but Banisch said this increase should also be seen as a positive.

“It is normal catching up with us,” he said. “The bad part about it is we get the huge increase this year, but the good part about it is we shouldn’t be living in a false economy from now on. Hopefully if we keep our stuff average, we will keep our rates at a reasonable level; we shouldn’t see huge increases again.”

While the health insurance increase was impossible to control, Fitzgerald said the BOE worked diligently to prepare a responsible budget number.

“The vote was unanimous, 9-0 in favor of the recommended budget,” she said.

Fitzgerald said that while the school facilities study has been a central topic within the BOE this year, it will not be reflected in next year’s budget.

“At this point no portion of the budget was dedicated to the school utilization project,” she said. “We are currently still in the review process of that project.”