FY08 Governor's Budget released

Towns and schools have been anxiously looking forward to the release of the Governor's Budget for FY08 to learn how much revenue they can expect to receive from the state to help balance their budgets. Those numbers were released on February 28. "Cherry sheets" for individual towns and regional school districts are published on the state website. (Revenue tables for Dunstable and Groton are shown below.)

The release of the Governor's Budget, also known as "House 1", is just the first step in the state budget cycle. The next step will be the House of Representatives budget proposal, which is typically released in April, followed by the Senate budget proposal. Once those proposals are on the table, a conference committee is formed to determine the final budget, which often isn't released until July, long after towns and schools have to finalize their local budgets. With each pass at the budget, different amounts are proposed for local aid. However, due to the timing of the state budget cycle, towns and schools often have no choice but to work with the Governor's Budget figures to anticipate their state revenue.

The Governor's Budget proposes the following increases to local aid and assessments for our communities, relative to FY07:

• A total increase of $168,319 for the Groton Dunstable Regional School District.
  (In the FY07 budget cycle, the Governor's budget increased GDRSD's state funding by roughly 770,000, and the final budget represented roughly a $1,127,000 increase over the FY06 budget.)

• A total increase of $7,170 in local aid for the Town of Dunstable.
  (In the FY07 budget cycle, the Governor's budget increased Dunstable's state funding by $55,652 and the final budget gave the town a $55,757 increase over the FY06 budget.) The FY08 Governor's budget increased the assessment that will be charged to Dunstable by only $219.
  
  
• A total increase of $1,080 in local aid for the Town of Groton.
  (In the FY07 budget cycle, the Governor's budget increased Groton's state funding by $207,714 and the final budget gave the town a $208,070 increase over the FY06 budget.) However, the FY08 Governor's budget increased the assessment that will be charged to Groton by $2,319.

Like many communities across the state, the towns of Dunstable and Groton and the schools are grappling with significant deficits in their current budget projections for FY08, even assuming "level services." The level of state aid projected in the Governor's budget is unlikely to put much of a dent in those deficits. The town and school district finance committees may have no choice but to ask for an override. It's just a matter of how much to ask for, and which services will be earmarked for cuts if the overrides fail.

GROTON DUNSTABLE Regional School District - State Aid FY08

Town of DUNSTABLE - State Aid FY08

Town of GROTON - State Aid FY08