Bristol Warren school budget set for almost $52 million

Finalizing the Bristol-Warren regional school district budget for 2008-09 was easier than most expected at Thursday night's joint finance committee meeting. Forty minutes into the meeting, the nine finance committee members — six Bristol town officials and three Warren town officials — voted unanimously to set the budget at $51,878,697, nearly $500,000 more than last year's $51,382,186 budget.

Bristol-Warren superintendent Edward Mara, Ph.D., breathed a sigh of relief after the vote and said, "This is much easier."

"I feel very good and supported. I know it hasn't been easy for [the joint finance committee], but I'm very grateful. They've done their best to support the district," he said.

After the vote, joint finance chairman David Barboza also said it was easier than he thought and everyone's pleased.

"We do our best to adequately fund the district so it can provide the best possible education that both towns can afford," he said.

Budget by the numbers:

The 2008-09 Bristol-Warren regional school district budget has been set at $51,878,697. Of that total, $21,499,756 will be non-locally funded via state aid and housing aid, and $30,378,941 will be locally funded, shared by the two towns as follows:

n Warren will pay about 36 percent or $11,036,577 of the locally-funded budget. The rationale being that official Oct. 1 2007 student counts show Warren is home to about 36 percent or 1,265 of the 3,482 district students.

n Bristol will pay about 63 percent or $19,342,364 of the locally-funded budget. The rationale being that official Oct. 1 2007 student counts show Bristol is home to about 63 percent or 2,217 of the 3,482 district students.

How will they pay?

Warren's share will increase by $424,909 from last year and Bristol's will increase by $825,104 from last year. In their budget presentations, Warren town manager Michael Abruzzi and Bristol town administrator Diane Mederos said both towns will use about 60 percent of their property taxes toward education.

n Warren will use $7.86 of its $13.12 per $1,000 property tax rate

n Bristol will use about $6.25 of its $10.46 per $1,000 property tax rate.

Here's the budget breakdown:

n $49,737,870 for operating costs

n $2,140,827 for debt services

By Jeremy Rosen

jrosen@eastbaynewspapers.com

Copyright © 2003, The East Bay Newspapers