BRADFORD, Vt. — Residents of the two-town Oxbow Unified Union School District will vote on a $21.4 million budget during the annual School Meeting Wednesday evening.

The operating budget for the district’s four schools — Newbury, Vt. and Bradford elementary schools, Oxbow High School and the River Bend Technical Center — is 2.48%, or about $518,000, higher than the previous year’s budget, according to the school district’s annual report.

The biggest cost drivers are salaries and health insurance costs, “which we have no control over,” said Danielle Corti, the School Board’s chairwoman.

Last year, residents approved an operating budget that increased by 14%. School board members heard from residents that that increase is not sustainable and kept that in mind going into this year’s budget planning process, Corti said.

The school district had a roughly $750,000 surplus in the current fiscal year budget due to staff turnover, including retirements.

The board will ask decided to use $200,000 of that surplus to put toward lowering the tax rate.

At the School Meeting, voters will be asked to allocate $300,000 for the capital reserve fund and $250,000 for the Education Stabilization Fund to use “for potential financial challenges down the road,” according to the annual report.

If the budget passes, the tax rate is expected to decrease about 6% for Bradford residents and increase about 2% for Newbury residents, said Corti.

Bradford homeowners with properties valued at $300,000 will see a $369 decrease, while Newbury residents with homes of the same value would see a $96 increase.

The difference is because the Common Level of Appraisal — which is used to calculate education property taxes in Vermont — changed in both towns, Corti, of Newbury, said.

“We were all very focused on doing the very best we could at keeping the tax rate down for everybody,” she said. “I’m very proud of our staff and our administrators for working hard to put this together.”

In addition to voting on the budget at Wednesday’s floor meeting, Bradford and Newbury voters will also elect two School Board members for three-year terms, one from each town. Corti’s term expires this year, as does that of Leanne Hatch, of Bradford.

The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Oxbow High School in Bradford.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.