Unspent budget funds at issue

“We are persona non grata,’’ said the committee’s chairwoman. “We’re being referred to as everything from just incredibly stupid and uninformed, and bad decision-makers, to irresponsible, nontransparent. I’ve sort of lost count.’’

A difference of opinion over the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District’s budget is not unusual.

What’s different this time around is that the debate does not center on Proposition 2 1/2 overrides, but about how much the schools will receive within the regular tax levy.

As residents prepare for town meetings starting with Wenham’s on Saturday, town and school officials have not agreed on the district’s budget for fiscal year 2012, which begins July 1. The school district is seeking $23,124,605 from the towns: 67.53 percent of it from Hamilton and 32.47 percent from Wenham, based on enrollment.

Citing an estimate of nearly $1 million budgeted last year that was not spent, the towns have asked the district to reduce its fiscal 2012 budget by $500,000. The School Committee refused, citing the possibility it will need to hold onto its reserves in anticipation of large increases in fiscal 2013.

“We’re trying to look beyond a single budget year,’’ said McCloughlan. “We already know that we’re going to face a structural deficit in the order of $2 million [in fiscal year 2013], before we even think about other mandates, or things we need to do, or should be doing. Because of that, we’re feeling like we’d rather be in control of our money, more than we have ever felt in the past, rather than thinking, ‘well, the towns will be there to bail us out.’ ’’

Some, like John McWane, chairman of Hamilton’s Finance and Advisory Committee, say not so fast.

“The crux of the argument is: Should they keep the $500,000 in their free cash account because they may need it in 2013, or should the taxpayers keep it in their pockets, return it to the towns, and reduce our tax rate . . . and we’ll worry about 2013 when we get there,’’ he said.

If the towns’ proposal is accepted, and the school budget is cut, Hamilton homeowners would have their property rates cut by 20 cents per $1,000 of valuation, which would mean $80 less in taxes for the median-priced home valued at $400,000.

In Wenham, the cut would be 22 cents per $1,000 valuation, a savings of $102 for the median-priced home valued at $467,000.

Wenham and Hamilton are among communities that have the highest tax rates in the region, McWane noted, and the school budget is about two-thirds of that.

The average single-family tax bill is $9,208 in Wenham in fiscal 2011, $8,165 in Hamilton.

“They’re the gorilla that drives our tax rate, so we’re trying to get our tax rate lower,’’ McWane said.

“My general bias on all of this, whether it’s the schools or towns, is that voters should decide what voters want,’’ said Roger Kuebel, the Wenham Finance Committee chairman. He is also a candidate for the Regional School Committee in the town’s election, also scheduled for Saturday. “If the community as a whole wants something for the schools, they’ll get it. It’s the community and taxpayers who are footing the bill for all of this, so they should get to decide.’’

According to McWane, the school district is expecting to have $981,602 unspent when the school year ends. He said officials haven’t been able to determine the sources of all the leftover funding, but $300,000 was put aside for unemployment benefits in the event of teacher layoffs that were not needed, and an all-day kindergarten program’s $120,000 revolving fund intended to offset expenses went unused.

Following that determination, McWane said, Superintendent Raleigh Buchanan cut $350,000 from the proposed budget. That was met with mixed response: Hamilton’s Finance and Advisory Committee and Board of Selectmen voted to support it; their counterparts in Wenham voted against it; and the School Committee’s finance subcommittee recommended it.

Ultimately, the full School Committee decided to stick with its original budget number.

“From my vantage point, it felt like a bait-and-switch,’’ said McCloughlan.

After state Representative Brad Hill said the Legislature will increase the school district’s funding by $120,000 over what had previously been assessed, Hamilton and Wenham both agreed to support a budget that was $500,000 less than the school district was seeking.

Tracy Mayor, a member of the citizens group Support Our Schools, said that her organization has not taken a position but will encourage members to attend the town meetings.

“We’re concerned about 2013 and would like to hear from the schools and towns about what they intend to do,’’ said the Hamilton resident. “We’ve heard from some individuals that if you need money and can make the case we’ll give it to you, but [that’s] not a statement to take to the bank.’’

Jim Kent, a member of Enough is Enough, a fiscally conservative group, said there are other changes that may shape the future of education in the towns, including the spring elections that will choose three members of the School Committee. Among the candidates: Kuebel; Bill Dery, a former joint Capital Management Committee and former Enough is Enough member; former Board of Assessors member Sean Condon; and incumbents Richard Boroff and Theresa “Tess’’ Foley Leary.

“Their budget has no programs cut, no teachers cut, nothing,’’ said McWane. “You can’t make the case that the school system will be hurt by this $500,000. You can only say that their planning for 2013 will be hurt.’’