The Champlain Valley School District central office is staying put in Shelburne.
School administrators have abandoned a plan to move into a larger space in Williston after members of the school board balked at the $188,000 estimated increased annual rent and $100,000 in up-front remodeling costs.
“That’s exciting news,” board member Meghan Metzler said Tuesday during a meeting of the board’s finance subcommittee. “I think that’s the right decision.”
Administrators had hoped to begin renovations of the new space — in an office building on Hurricane Lane — this winter and move in the spring. In October, they empaneled a committee to facilitate the move. But this week, after hearing opposition from board members and running a first draft of the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, the work of the committee was suspended.
Gary Marckres
“We didn’t feel we could commit the additional funds to the budget, because it’s pretty loaded already,” said district Chief Operating Officer Gary Marckres.
Indeed, a first look at the annual school budget that voters will be asked to approve at Town Meeting Day in March shows a spending increase of $7.7 million (8.6 percent) over the current year budget. At roughly $97 million, the draft is already $1 million over the board’s spending target.
Increases in salaries, health insurance, liability insurance and energy costs all contribute to the spending increase, Marckres said. Administrators plan to chip away at the increase to bring the budget in line with the board’s preferred $96 million limit.
“We are cognizant of the target,” Marckres said. “I know there are some adjustments we need to make.”
Any projection on the property tax impact of the spending increase would be premature, he said, because upcoming fiscal year revenue has not yet been projected.
Meanwhile, the school district plans to re-up its lease for the space at the Shelburne town offices, where its central office has been located for the past 20 years.
“They are thrilled to have us because this place would probably not rent out and that would be a big hit to the Shelburne town budget,” school district consultant Jeanne Jensen said during the finance committee meeting, which took place in the central office conference room.
