BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Dunbarton School Board members worked long and hard to establish an operating budget lower than the current fiscal year, and they did so without cutting any positions.

The proposed operating budget is $4,685,984, down from $4,723,983 this year, a decrease of $37,999.

Though the school board considered cutting a guidance counselor from two days a week to one day, the board managed to make the numbers work without making a drastic change to personnel.

“It wasn’t easy; it was difficult and it’s not very glamorous, but it certainly is the first time since I’ve been on the board that I’ve seen a lower operating budget than the previous year,” said school board member Betty Ann Noyes.

“One of our major concerns was not to interfere with the level of service being offered to children in elementary school.”

Noyes said to decrease the budget, the school board kept many items level, though it still has to meet contractual agreements with teachers and support staff and special education increases.

Increases in electricity and fuel costs also factored into the budget, but there are areas the board found room to save.

“We are very fortunate in that the tuition at the middle school and high school has decreased and we will be saving considerable amount in that area,” said Noyes. “There were also things we wish to do in the building  that we simply aren’t going to be able to do.”

Though the proposed operating budget has been set, Noyes says it is too early to determine the tax impact, especially because Dunbarton is scheduled for a 15 percent decrease in state adequacy, or $67,129, which is one of its main revenue sources.

“It is difficult to say, because as far as the budget is concerned, it will not raise the taxes, but we still need to determine  income or revenue totals, and at this point it’s all up in the air,” said Noyes. “We know revenue is already down in one area, but that’s just what is predicted, so we just have to wait, unfortunately.”

In addition to the operating budget, the school board will again ask residents to approve the purchase of a generator, which was voted down at last year’s meeting.

If approved, said Noyes, the generator would be available for emergency purposes for both Dunbarton Elementary School and the town.

The cost would be $71,000, though the district is hoping to offset the cost by 30 percent through a school building aid.

The tax impact of the generator would be 22 cents in the first year and 1.3 cents for each of the following six years.