The two drivers of next year’s budget increase in the Merrimack Valley School District are forces hitting its peers across New Hampshire: special education and health insurance.

The proposed $48,298,106 budget for the district is up almost $2.7 million – 5.9% more than last year. Well over three-quarters of that increase is from those two categories alone.

Special education costs represent more than half of the increase.

Many special education positions, from speech to occupational therapists and beyond, are contracted. Not only are more students accessing those services, but the tuition is going up, too, Student Support Services Director Mary Paradise explained at the district’s budget hearing last month.

Bringing those services in-house, rather than contracting them, would help bring that spending down, Superintendent Randy Wormald said. But difficulty in the hiring market and the fluctuating nature of special education needs in any given year make that difficult.

“If we could hire someone, we can reduce our reliance on this service or that service. So when we’ve had the opportunity to do that, we’ve looked at the numbers and we have made those moves,” Wormald said. “The trouble is finding the people that we can get in.”

When it comes to health and dental insurance costs, Wormald said the district’s hike hurts — but it could have been worse.

“I’m certainly not going to say we’re lucky to only be at 21.8 (percent),” Wormald said, but other districts hit their 25% cap.

A third category, pay raises from previously approved union contract agreements, is another 13% of the increase — meaning that 95% of the district’s climbing budget this year came from just three areas.

The district was unable to provide estimates for how this new spending would impact the tax rate for its sending towns, though some attendees at the hearing were eager to see them.

“You’re 53% of Boscawen’s taxes,” said Tom Laliberte, a member of that town’s budget committee. “I’m just concerned about the cost and the burden it’s going to put on taxpayers. It’s a lot of money during tough times.”

Also on the district warrant is a new contract agreement with the Merrimack Valley Administrators Association and a deposit of $150,000 into a maintenance trust fund. A moderator position and four school board positions will also come before voters.

Residents of Penacook and the sending towns of Andover, Boscawen, Loudon, Salisbury and Webster will vote on the warrant articles, including the budget, at the Merrimack Valley School District’s annual meeting on Friday, March 8.