Karen McGuire, superintendent of the Tri‑County Regional Vocational Technical High School, and Dan Haines, the district’s school business manager, briefed the Millis Finance Committee on April 9 about this year’s Chapter 70 apportionment, a recently completed bond sale and implications for Millis’s share of the regional assessment.

The Tri‑County presentation matters to Millis because the district’s required contribution to net school spending will rise after the district’s ninth‑grade cohort grew by 11 students; the state’s Chapter 70 formula increased Millis’s Tri‑County assessment by $213,047, the presenters said. McGuire and Haines also told the committee that the district sold school bonds in January and will begin debt service in fiscal 2026, which is the primary driver of a larger assessment to member towns.

At the meeting Haines said the district sold $140,000,000 in school bonds on Jan. 7, 2025, receiving a true interest cost of about 3.99 percent and a premium that reduced the amount the district will pay back. “We had a low bid of the true interest cost of 3.9899. That included a premium of $3,400,000,” Haines said, explaining that bond premium must be added into the debt and that the structure yields a projected savings versus earlier estimates. Tri‑County’s published debt service for the district on the presentation was $8,520,053; the district apportioned the per‑pupil debt share to member communities when calculating assessments.

Haines and McGuire explained how the district used excess E and D (excess and deficiency) fund balance certified at the end of fiscal 2024 to reduce the assessment for fiscal 2026. Haines said the certified excess E and D balance was about $2,108,004, roughly $936,000 above the statutory 5 percent threshold; the school committee applied roughly $1.5 million of E and D to lower member town assessments for the coming year.

Tri‑County officials also reviewed enrollment trends and the new building. McGuire said the district’s student cap will remain 1,000 students in the new facility and that overall Tri‑County is seeing more applicants than seats in most member towns this year. Haines summarized Tri‑County’s allocation method: seats are apportioned by each town’s share of district enrollment, and unused seats are redistributed using that same proportional method. McGuire said that, as of early April, approximately 28 applications had come from Millis for the incoming year, and that initial acceptances had just been mailed.

On construction, McGuire said the project experienced delays related to site issues and conservation permitting; the district removed a solar array and negotiated how to handle runoff and wetlands concerns. She said construction is “mucky” and muddy but moving forward and that steel fabrication is in process. The district still anticipates opening the new building in September 2027.

Tri‑County leaders also described state legislative work that could affect future project costs: McGuire and Haines said vocational school building reimbursement through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is currently lower than what vocational districts believe is needed, and regional legislators have filed bills asking for higher reimbursement for vocational projects (Tri‑County representatives described a proposed 80 percent vocational reimbursement). The presenters said those bills were referred to the Legislature’s education and ways and means committees and that they would notify Millis town staff and leaders when committee hearing dates are set.

The presentation included district finance details — enrollment counts, Chapter 70 aid increases, transportation aid and local revenue items — and a question‑and‑answer period with members of the Millis Finance Committee and local school committee members. No formal vote or town action was taken at the finance committee meeting; Tri‑County’s materials were presented for information ahead of Millis’s annual town meeting and warrant deliberations.

The Tri‑County materials the district distributed and referenced at the meeting are available on the district and TriCountyBuilding.com project pages, and the district said it will circulate legislative hearing notices for MSBA‑related bills to the towns when they are scheduled.