FAIRFIELD — The 2.9-mill operating levy voters in the Fairfield Schools rejected three months ago is no longer large enough to keep the district solvent over the next three years.

        Officials blame an unexpected increase in the district's health insurance premium.

        To keep the district in the black through June 2004, voters would have to approve a 4.9-mill operating levy in November, said Superintendent Robert Farrell. That amount, he said, would allow for the hiring of only one new employee during that period.

        “That's a different scenario than (what) we talked in May,” Mr. Farrell said. “This levy isn't about increasing staff. It's keeping our staff.”

        Mr. Farrell's comments come as board members begin discussing what kind of levy they will place on the Nov. 6 ballot. The deadline is Aug. 23.

        Since the levy's defeat in May, the district received notice that health insurance premiums would increase by 25 percent — or about $887,000, Mr. Farrell said. Industrywide, increases are in the 20-40 percent range, putting Fairfield's increase at the low end, said J. Scott Gooding, Fairfield Schools' treasurer.

        Also complicating the issue is the district's need to upgrade technology.

        Mr. Farrell said he and other administrators would allocate money from other areas of the budget and apply for grants or partnerships to free up money for technology, something a survey showed is important to residents.

        A 4.9-mill operating levy would bring about $4.8 million annually to district coffers and would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $150 in new taxes, Mr. Gooding said. It would allow the district to stay solvent through June 2004, when the district is projected to have an ending balance of $1.3 million.

        That balance turns to an $8.2 million deficit the following year, if spending remains the same and no new monies are received, Mr. Gooding said.

        “It is not a luxurious amount,” Mr. Farrell said. “It will require fiscal restraint. It is still going to require a watchdog approach to make it work.”

        Board members asked Mr. Gooding and Mr. Farrell to prepare additional proposals outlining Fairfield's financial position if a slightly larger levy were put before voters, so that a cash reserve could be maintained for emergencies. Those proposals will be reviewed at the board's Aug. 16 meeting.

        Going to a 5.1-mill levy would bring the district an additional $491,906 annually, which would still only allow the district to remain solvent three years, Mr. Gooding said. It would increase taxes on a $100,000 home by $153 annually.

        Voters last approved an increase for day-to-day operations of the schools in 1997.

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