Vote YES! for a smart and responsible Ledyard Budget, including: 👍Updated fire alarms at Juliet Long School 👍Funding for two police cruisers 👍Funding to pave our roads 👍A Safe Playground for our kids at Juliet Long School 👍The ability to meet critical student needs in Reading, Math, and Mental Health 👍A more appropriate pay rate for our substitute teachers - not the lowest rate in southeast Connecticut. Paying an adequate wage will help fix our extreme shortage of substitute teachers. We have often not had enough substitute teachers, requiring classrooms to be combined. 🌷🌷🌷 The Referendum (VOTE) on the budget will be held on May 21, 2024, from 6 am to 8 pm, at Ledyard Town Hall. 🌷🌷🌷 Got questions? 📣The Annual Town Meeting (when the FY 24-25 Town of Ledyard budget will be presented to residents), will be held on May 20, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 741 Colonel Ledyard Highway (with a virtual option). 🔷️Ledyard Town Council and Board of Education want to hear from you: EMAIL [email protected], [email protected], and/or [email protected] with your input or questions!  🔸️This budget funds the town's critical, urgent needs while minimizing the tax impact on residents.
🔸️Cost increases are offset by grants, retirements, cost reductions, and an increase in the grand list. 🔸️This budget is the minimum required to successfully run our town and successfully fund our education system. 🔸️This budget is SMART and RESPONSIBLE. For just one example, it includes funding for the Ledyard Middle School Recommissioning, which costs $24,000, and is projected to SAVE taxpayers up to $21,000 PER YEAR for years to come. 🔸️The town of Ledyard continues to fund education at a cost far below any other district in Southeastern CT and the lowest 10% in the state. 🔸️90% of the increase in the BOE budget is for non-negotiable increases in transportation, salaries, and energy. 🔸️Ledyard taxpayers deserve a high performing school district that strives for excellent outcomes for ALL students. 🔸️Residents deserve investments in our schools for the taxes we are paying. Budget Breakdown The proposed budget for the 2024-2025 Fiscal year is $67,430,573, a 4.48% increase compared to last year’s budget. ▪️ General Government total: $29,060,750 (proposed increase of 1.50% ▪️ Board of Education total: $38,369,823 (proposed increase of 6.85%) The BOE budget is 57% of total budget, with 20% for town government operations, 4.7% for Public Works, 7% for Police and Safety, 5.9% for debt service, 2.66% for Capital Improvements and less than 1% each for libraries, Parks & Recreation, and health and welfare. Funding This budget will require a mil rate increase to 35.21 from the current 34.56, an increase of 0.65. For the average homeowner in Ledyard (a home valued at $300-$325k (with a tax assessment of approximately $200k) this increase of 0.65 would impact their property taxes by approximately $10 per month. Why the increase? Like towns all over Connecticut, Ledyard Public School District has seen steep increases in transportation and energy costs as contracts were up for renewal this year. State mandates for reading curriculum and HVAC inspections will amount to over 200K and the cost of Special Education continues to climb. Contractual increases are always included in our budget and are as well this year. APPROXIMATELY 90% OF THE INCREASE IN THE BOE BUDGET IS SIMPLY FUNDING THE STATUS QUO. This year there are critical needs for student support that are addressed in this budget. Along with increasing needs for Special Education we have seen the need for Interventions in Literacy and Math grow as well as the crisis in the mental health needs of our students. This budget continues a years-long effort to build effective, well-defined, comprehensive systems of support to address these needs. Why should we support this budget? The Ledyard Board of Education voted unanimously for this budget and believes it is imperative to meet the needs of our students and fulfill the vision that the Community has for our District. None of these critical needs are a LEDYARD problem but what has been a Ledyard problem is the failure to make the investment in providing necessary resources to expand our intervention model to finally close the achievement gap that has persistently existed in our schools, and to address the failure of our health care system to provide equitable access to mental health services for our youth. These issues are the two most pressing obstacles to learning in the classroom. We have a moral and legal obligation to educate our children - it’s not optional. The town of Ledyard continues to fund education at a cost far below any other district in Southeastern CT and the lowest 10% in the state. This continues to hamper efforts to move the district forward and is not sustainable. The District will continue to be good stewards of town allocated funds as we always have while recognizing the growing need for funding these basic needs. FOR MORE DETAILS, SEE: FY 24-25 Ledyard Proposed Town Budget Board FY25 Budget PowerPoint PRESENTATION Board of Education Adopted FY 2024-2025 BUDGET |
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