Regl_School_Final_Appendix

Appendix B

Regional School Governance in Other New England States

Program review committee staff examined the authority of regional schools in other New England states. Information on these states was gathered through a review of ECS literature, as well as through a phone survey of New England state Departments of Education. Table A-1 compares Connecticut with the other New England states in four areas including:

· taxing authority of regional districts and whether they are fiscally dependent or independent of local government;

· the entity responsibility for approving regional school budgets and performing on-going oversight;

· the local revenue sources available to support school spending; and

· state mandated spending limits or restrictions on property tax increases to fund public schools.


Table B-1. Comparison of Regional District Authority in New England.
State	Taxing Authority			Fiscal Oversight of Board			Local Revenue Sources				Tax and Spending
State	*Fiscally Dependent*	*Fiscally* *Independent*	*Both*	*County*	*Local*	*Voters*	*Property* *Tax*	*Income* *Tax*	*Sales* *Tax*	*Other*	*Limits on Property tax increases*
CT	X					X	X				No
ME	X					X	X				No
MA	X					X	X				Yes
NH	X					X	X				Yes
RI	X				X	X	X				No*
VT	X					X	X				Yes
* Rhode Island's restrictions are for municipalities - cities and towns may not exceed a 5.5 percent cap on increasing property tax rates without state approval. Rhode Island has four regional school districts, and there is local input into the budget process.