Warrant Article of the Day
As we ready for Town Meeting on May 13, 2025, the Town will be presenting information every day on different warrant articles.
The full warrant can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1apqsGCynKuAbeG_joJnlRc1VtGlb2mc9/view?usp=sharing
Article 14: Transfer balance from Special Education Stabilization Fund to FY25 General Fund
This article would transfer the remainder of the Special Education Stabilization Fund to offset the FY25 North Andover Public School’s budgetary deficit. There is approximately $63,000 in this account. The Special Education Stabilization Fund has historically been used to offset unanticipated special education costs, but in recent years the Schools have more appropriately been using the Finance Committee reserve in order to avoid using one time revenues to offset recurring expenses. A majority vote is required to transfer funds from special purpose stabilization funds. The Town has been planning to close the account as discussed in Article 15.
Article 15: Close Special Education Stabilization Fund
The Town originally opened the Special Education Stabilization Fund as an avenue to alleviate the burden of unexpected costs in Special Education. At the time, a Special Education Reserve Account was not allowable under the law, and the Town did not yet have a Finance Committee Reserve Account. Using reserves rather than stabilization funds gives the School Department more flexibility and certainty in their budgeting. The Select Board has already amended their Financial Policies to earmark $250,000 per year for Special Education deficits, which is more than is allowable annually from the Stabilization Account.
