ATTENTION: The next Timberlane Deliberative Session will be held on Thursday, February 6th, 2025 at the Timberlane Performing Arts Center.

***This is your opportunity to vote to reduce the proposed 2025-2026 Timberlane Regional School District budget. Please do everything you can to attend this session.***

Blog

  • Your chance to be heard!
  • School Board Meeting 10/3

    The three Citizen’s Petitions below were submitted to the School Board to appear on the ballot in March as Warrant Articles. Vote YES on all three.

    • Lease Purchase Agreement: Shall the Timberlane Regional School District (TRSD) vote to rescind and terminate the March 14, 2023 adoption of Article-3 Lease Purchase Agreement of $25,243,000 as authorized by TRSD.
    • Fund Balance Retention: Shall the Timberlane Regional School District (TRSD) vote to rescind the March 14, 2023 adoption of Article-15 Fund Balance Retention of 5% as authorized by TRSD.
    • 2.5% Tax Cap on Operating Budget: Shall the Timberlane Regional School District (TRSD) vote to adopt the provisions of RSA 32:5-b, and implement a tax cap whereby the governing body and budget committee shall not submit a recommended budget that increases the amount to be raised by local taxes, based on the prior fiscal year’s actual amount of local taxes raised, by more than 2.5%.
  • 9/24 Meeting@Danville CC

  • Continued fiscal irresponsibility

    After pledging to return the entirety of the $16.4 million 23-24 budget surplus, the school board has instead voted to retain $3.5 million. They intend to conduct a special meeting where the public can vote on whether or not to use the $3.5 million to make a payment towards the EEI lease for projects being completed around the district. They say that making the lease payment will save $1.4 million in interest. There are two problems with this.

    1. The $3.5 million withheld from the 23-24 surplus is not needed to make this lease payment. The 24-25 budget includes $2.1 million to be used towards a lease payment and the district received an additional $1 million from the state in adequacy aid. The $3.5 million in surplus from 23-24 could have been returned to the taxpayers and the lease payment could have been made (still saving the $1.4 million in interest) using money from the current 24-25 budget.
    2. Even if, at the special meeting that has yet to be scheduled or announced, the public votes against using the $3.5 million withheld from the 23-24 surplus, it’s too late for this money to be returned to the taxpayers. It will have to carry over to the 24-25 budget, presumably contributing to another massive budget surplus next year (unless the school board does everything in their power to spend it down).

    Below is a PDF copy of the statement made by John Downing at Delegates and Individuals to the school board on 9/5/2024. The suggestion was ignored.

    September 5 SB statementDownload
  • $16,390,237

    Sixteen million, three hundred ninety thousand, two hundred and thirty-seven dollars.

    That’s the amount of money in Timberlane’s unassigned fund balance (commonly referred to as budget surplus). Almost 16.4 million in tax dollars that property owners in the district didn’t need to be taxed for.

    This school board, the budget committee, and the CFO are utterly incompetent.

    Reference the previous blog post below about the budget committee’s “rubber stamp everything” nature, and then read this quote from the November 21, 2023 budget committee meeting minutes:

    The proposed budget is up 3.6% from the current FY2024 budget and includes all the requests that were made by the administrators for this budget season.

    They do not say “NO” to anything. They believe that the taxpayers of this district are an open checkbook available to be used for anything and everything that is requested – no scrutiny, no oversight.

    The Budget Committee will start preparing the 25-26 budget soon. Will they have the gall to propose yet another budget increase after stacking a $6 million dollar increase for 24-25 on top of a 23-24 budget that was $16.4 million too high? Contact them and tell them enough is enough.

Continue reading past posts from the blog.

What’s Happening?

Do you own a home in Atkinson, Danville, Plaistow, or Sandown? If so, your property taxes skyrocketed in 2023 and are set to do so again in 2024 (particularly if you live in Danville or Sandown).

Why?

  • Depending on which town you live in, the Timberlane Regional School District budget makes up somewhere between 60-75% of the town’s tax burden.
  • The Timberlane Regional Budget Committee builds the proposed budget starting in September of each year. This needs to be REDUCED.
  • The Timberlane Regional School Board is responsible for how the funds allocated in the budget are spent (or not spent) – any surplus should RETURNED to the taxpayers.

What can be done?

Join the Facebook group to stay up to date on the latest discussions.

Short term:

  • Contact your town’s Budget Committee members and ask them to reduce the upcoming year’s proposed budget.
  • Contact your town’s School Board members and ask them to stop spending dollars in the unassigned fund balance and instead return those dollars to the taxpayers.
  • Attend School Board meetings and Budget Committee meetings. Familiarize yourself with the various other committees and attend those meetings as well – they all have the potential to impact how your tax dollars are spent. See the committees listed on the left side of the School Board site.

Mid-term:

  • Attend the Timberlane Deliberative Session in February. This is the opportunity for constituents to suggest and vote on amendments to the proposed budget before it goes to the ballot in March.

Long term:

  • Replace the current School Board and Budget Committee members. Run for these positions when seats are up for election, or identify people in your community who will run. Get out and vote on election day and tell everyone you know to do the same.