Martin: State has not set MBR for schools

WINSTED — The state has not set a minimum budget requirement (MBR) for the town, according to Town Manager Dale Martin.Martin, along with members of the Board of Selectmen and other town officials, met with state Board of Education officials on Friday, June 24, for a special selectmen’s meeting at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.At a Board of Education meeting on June 14, Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno said the state has ruled that the town must fund the school district at the previously proposed MBR of $20,049,466, which was set in late April.At a budget referendum in late May, voters approved the town’s budget proposed by the Board of Selectmen, which set education funding at $18,600,000, which is $1,449,466 below the anticipated MBR.Martin said that shortfall in funding is not official. “The state is still trying to collect data,” he said. “We were told that they would have an MBR calculation by the end of July for the 2011-12 school year.”At the meeting, Martin said town officials spoke to state representatives about their frustrations in dealing with both the MBR and the school district’s audit for fiscal 2009-10, which still has not been completed.“We look forward to the continued communication with the state in order to resolve these issues,” Martin said. “We hope for a resolution to both of these issues because our frustration continues to grow, so we’ve been looking for outside assistance.”Martin said that state officials at the meeting did not make any official decisions.“They just listened to us,” Martin said. “We gave them some information for them to consider, but we have not heard back from them yet.”According to Martin, the town is the last in the state to file a complete financial audit for the 2009-10 fiscal year due to the school district’s audit not being completed.

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