For residents

What the town can actually do about the school budget

Every option that exists, how much of the gap each one closes, who decides it, and what it costs somebody. Nothing here is painless; this page says which pain is which.

lunenburgbudgetproject.org — written by the Lunenburg Budget Project, an independent tool for residents. Not affiliated with the Town of Lunenburg, the School Committee or the school district. The data this page is computed from: /data/model.json

$672,238

short, every year — average annual shortfall FY28–FY30, after each year’s cuts compound

$295,494

a year from the fees and trims below that cut no program — about 44% of the gap

$193

on the average tax bill next year if the whole gap were an override — and more the year after, because the rates do not change

If you read nothing else

The fees and trims are worth doing and do not solve it. Together they close about 44% of the gap without touching a program.
Cutting every extracurricular does not buy a year: $376,207, 40% of it. All athletics still funded, all arts and music, all clubs — eliminated entirely. Then the same gap returns with nothing left to cut but classrooms.
Business growth is real and slow. It needs $46.7M of new commercial value a year, every year, and pays off in about a decade.
Free cash covers a year, not a problem. The town certified $3,354,370 this year, 6.55% of its operating budget, and says it aims for 5%-7%.
Only two things on the table change a rate: the health plan, and the pace of commercial building. Everything else is an amount, and an amount has to be found again — which is why every option below is priced to five years and to ten.
After that there are two choices, and only two: an override, or classroom positions. This package finds roughly half the FY28 gap without cutting a single program — the exact share is above, and it moves as you change assumptions. The rest is the honest part: it is either an override, or classroom positions. Anyone who tells you there is a painless third option has not added up the line items.

Read every option, pricedThe full version7 min

The choices, whole

8 things the town could actually decide, each priced by the same model to hold five years and ten — nobody here plans further. 5 change an amount and buy the years; 3 change a growth rate, which is what makes ten years cheaper than five twice over. Every figure is the model’s, and “positions” is an estimate at the catalogue’s own cost per position.

Option 1

Cut staff every spring

buys time

What happens if nothing else is decided

the gap stays shut1 year at a time

Each cut balances one year; the rates reopen it the next, so it is decided again every spring

What it costs.: About 10.0 positions a year to hold 5 years — 50.2 in all; about 10.0 a year to hold ten — 100.4 in all, of roughly 150
Who says yes.: The School Committee, every year, at budget time

the working

Option 2

One big staffing cut

buys time

Cut deep once and stop cutting

the gap stays shut5 or 10 years

5 years at the smaller cut, ten at the larger; then it reopens — a smaller budget growing at the same 5.18%

What it costs.: $3,088,015 a year, permanently — about 34.7 positions. Holding ten years takes $6,264,481, about 70.3 positions
Who says yes.: The School Committee, once

the working

Option 3

An override every year

buys time

Ask the voters each spring for that year’s gap

the gap stays shut1 year at a time

Only while it keeps passing. Nothing about the rates changes, so the question comes back larger each spring

What it costs.: $193 on the average tax bill in year one, $151 more in year 5; $731 added to the bill over 5 years, and it keeps rising
Who says yes.: Town Meeting and the ballot, every year, and it has to pass every time

the working

Option 4

A five-year override

buys time

One ballot question, sized to hold five years

the gap stays shut5 years

Then it reopens — the levy grows 2.5% and the costs grow 5.18%

What it costs.: $3,403,695 on the levy — about $707 a year on the average tax bill, permanently
Who says yes.: Town Meeting and the ballot, once

the working

Option 5

A ten-year override

buys time

One ballot question, sized to hold ten years

the gap stays shut10 years

Then it reopens — the same rates, a bigger base

What it costs.: $7,425,124 on the levy — about $1,543 a year on the average tax bill, permanently. More than twice the five-year question, because the gap keeps widening under it
Who says yes.: Town Meeting and the ballot, once

the working

Option 6

Change health insurance, leave pay alone

bends the curve

Plan design or the state GIC, so the line grows 5% instead of 9%

the gap stays shut5 or 10 years

5 years with the smaller cheque; ten with the larger. Salaries still grow 4%, so it does not close on its own

What it costs.: Every employee on a narrower network or a higher deductible; a one-time $936,474 cut, or $1,032,207 once on the levy to bridge the first 5 years. Ten years: a one-time $1,612,541 cut, or $1,911,302 once on the levy
Who says yes.: The Town, which buys the insurance, through the Public Employee Committee; the district holds its own lines to the cap. Nothing is asked of the union on pay

the working

Option 7

Everybody gives a little

bends the curve

Pay settles at 3%, insurance held to 5%, the district holds the rest at the cap

the gap stays shut5 or 10 years

5 years nearly free; ten with the cheque

What it costs.: About 1.5 fewer positions a year if raises stay at contract, or a smaller raise; a costlier plan for staff. To bridge 5 years, a one-time $363,774 cut, or $374,687 once on the levy; ten years, a one-time $422,065 cut, or $454,189 once on the levy
Who says yes.: The union, the Town and the School Committee — three parties, none of them alone

the working

Option 8

Everybody gives more — ten years, almost nothing else

bends the curve

Pay settles at the 2.5% levy cap, insurance held to 5%, the district holds the rest

the gap stays shut10 years

Ten years with a token one-time sum and no override — the cheapest ten years on the page

What it costs.: About 2.2 fewer positions a year if raises stay at contract, or raises at the cap; a costlier plan for staff; a one-time $300,435 cut, or $307,946 once on the levy
Who says yes.: The union, the Town and the School Committee — the same three, each asked for a little more than the card above

the working

The parts, biggest first

Recurring money a year at the top; then what pays once or takes a decade; then what is left.

what	closes	who decides	what it costs somebody	bends the curve?
An override	The whole gap, every year	Town Meeting, then the ballot	About $193 a year on the average tax bill	No — buys one year; the spread reopens the next, and it takes a new one every spring
Change the health insurance split	$199,923 a year, once in force	Negotiated with the employee committee; takes a year or two	It costs a family on the broadest plan $2,198 a year	The split, no. Plan design, yes — this line grows 9% a year; held to the cap it is worth 0.97 pts, the most of any line
Trim administration	$78,997 a year	The district	Slower office work; possibly a position	No — a one-time step; the gap regrows at the spread
Fees already raised on sports	$77,336 a year	Done — School Committee, for 2026–27	A family with one athlete pays $400 a season, up from $250; $1,500 family cap	No — a one-time step; the gap regrows at the spread
Audit software, licences and devices	$76,641 a year	The district	Fewer tools; no jobs	No — a one-time step; the gap regrows at the spread
A higher bus fee, grades 7–12	$32,558 a year	School Committee vote	$300 a rider, from the $180 charged today	No — a one-time step; the gap regrows at the spread
A fee for band, music and clubs	$29,962 a year	School Committee vote	About $100 per student per activity, where none is charged today; some students quit	No — a one-time step; the gap regrows at the spread
Free cash	$794,872 in a year like this one	Town Meeting	One-time money on a recurring bill — the gap is back next year	No — a one-time step; the gap regrows at the spread
New businesses	The whole gap, if $46.7M of new commercial value arrives every year	Planning Board, Select Board, the market	Ten years, not one; about 51 more average businesses a year, on top of the 234 the town has, or 16 typical developments	Yes — it lifts the revenue rate, which is the other side of the spread
Cut every sport, band and club	$376,207, once	School Committee	Every extra gone, and the gap returns next year	No — this whole line grows 3%, worth 0.03 pts; emptying it changes the size, not the slope
Cut classroom positions	Whatever is left	School Committee	Larger classes; the thing that makes families leave	No — salaries grow at the contract rate, 4%; fewer people is a lower line at the same slope

Why most of the table does not end it

Costs grow 5.18% a year and the money to pay them grows 3.23% — the levy cap plus new building. The difference, 1.95 pts, is the problem. An amount closes one year of it; only a change to a growth rate closes it for good. Holding each line to the 2.5% cap would move the cost rate by:

Health insurance0.97 pts

15% of budget, growing 9.0% a year

Special education, in district0.81 pts

20% of budget, growing 6.5% a year

Salaries0.74 pts

50% of budget, growing 4.0% a year

Transportation0.14 pts

4% of budget, growing 6.0% a year

Utilities0.06 pts

2% of budget, growing 5.0% a year

Everything else0.03 pts

7% of budget, growing 3.0% a year

Out-of-district special education-0.06 pts

3% of budget, growing 0.0% a year

Health insurance and special education, in district are 91% of the spread between them. Everything else — where sports, clubs and devices live, and the only line the School Committee sets on its own — is worth 0.03 pts. That is why the cuts residents see every spring never change the slope. The dials are on Bend the curve.

Every figure on this page is computed by the same model that runs the rest of this site and is read from it, not typed; the arithmetic is on Bend the curve, What “solved” requires and Build your own budget. The whole-choice cards run the same projection as Bend the curve; the override figures are that page’s treadmill, on the average bill.