Voters in Weare and Henniker will have a chance to attend three school district deliberative sessions this week but no matter which they go to, they’ll hear one message: Cuts in state aid are raising local property taxes.

“Due to this state revenue loss, the John Stark Regional School District will receive a decrease of $236,861 from the state. This decrease in revenue represents a 10-cent for Henniker and 13-cent for Weare increase in the local education tax rate,” wrote school officials in the budget summary for the two-town district covering John Stark High School.

Officials say similar percentage changes due to reductions in what are known as hold harmless grants, part of the state’s adequacy aid, are facing Weare School District, which includes the middle school and Center Wood Elementary, and Henniker School District, which covers Henniker Community School.

“Henniker voters will want to keep the biennial step down of the hold harmless grant in mind for future budgets,” notes the Henniker School District presentation.

Combined with increases in local costs, this change in state aid means that if all warrants pass in all three districts, people in Weare would see an estimated increase in their total local school tax rate of $1.81, adding $724 to the annual bill for a $400,000 house, while those in Henniker would see a total increase of 87 cents, adding $348 to the total tax bill for a $400,000 house.

Included in the budget of all three districts is the first year of a five-year transportation contract with Student Transportation of America, which currently runs the school buses for the SAU. The company was chosen from the two bidders for the contract,

The deliberative session for Henniker schools is Monday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. in the Community School. For Weare it will be Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. at Weare Middle School. For John Stark it will be Friday, Feb. 7, at the high school. Warrant articles, including the budget, will be discussed and can be amended to an extent. Voting by ballot will take place March 4.

The districts’ proposals can be found in the SAU24website under Public Hearing presentation as part of “Budget Information 2025” at www.sau24.org/departments/business-office/budget-information-2025.

Details of proposed warrants include:

Weare School District

Weare voters will see three warrant articles submitted by petition.

Article 5 would require including the estimated tax impact on all budget and warrant articles. Article 6 would place a budget cap of $24,767 per pupil on the school board’s recommended budget, adjusted in subsequent years for regional inflation; it requires a three-fifths majority to pass. Article 7 asks state legislators to reject expansion of the voucher program known as Education Freedom Accounts “until we have full accountability, transparency, and a sustainable funding plan that ensures no further strain on public schools or local property taxpayers.”

The proposed operating budget for the next fiscal year starting July 1 is $20.45 million, which is $838,347, or 4.27%, higher than the budget approved a year ago.

A proposed two-year contract for the school support staff would include various increases in salary, longevity payments and differential for intensive care. Officials say the projected average salary increase for para-professionals would be $2,557 in year one and $1,887 in year two.

The estimated extra cost to the district if the contract is approved would be $145,420 in year one and $95,469 in year two.

If the budget and contract are approved, the local school tax rate would rise from $8.67 to $9.93 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, adding $504 to the annual tax bill of a $400,000 home.

Henniker School District

The proposed operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $10.73 million, an increase of $291,019 or 2.79% above the budget approved a year ago.

Article 4 includes a proposed three-year contract for support staff. It would give a projected average annual pay hike for para-professionals of $3,057 in year one, $1,487 in year two and $1,472 in year three. That would come about largely by increasing the pay range from $16-$25 per hour up to $17.50-$28 per hour.

If all warrants pass, the local school tax rate would increase by 64 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, raising the annual tax bill of a $400,000 house by $256.

John Stark School District

The proposed operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $15.5 million, an increase of $353,617 or 2.33% over the budget approved last year.

Warrant Article 4 is a proposed two-year teachers contract that would raise starting salaries from the current $41,739 by 12% over two years to $46,898, and raise the average salary from $61,220 by 13.5% over two years to $69,539.

It would cost an estimated extra $342,266 in the first year and $335,041 the second year.

If the budget and teachers contract both pass, it would raise the John Stark tax rate in Weare by an estimated 55 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, adding $220 to the annual tax bill of a $400,000 home, and raise the John Stark tax rate in Henniker by an estimated 23 cents, or $92 more to the bill of a $400,000 home.

A petitioned warrant article would require including the estimated tax impact on all budget and warrant articles.