PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Voters passed a 2011-12 SAD 1 budget of $22,960,050 last Tuesday by a significantly strong margin.
The May 17 budget referendum was approved in four of the district’s five communities. In Presque Isle, the budget was approved 194-57. In Mapleton, the referendum was adopted 48-12, Chapman passed the budget 18-4, while the budget was OK’d in Westfield by a vote of 7-4. Castle Hill defeated the referendum 15-12.
In total, 371 people voted on the budget. Of that, 279 (75 percent) voted “yes,” while 92 (25 percent) voted “no.”
“We are very pleased at the vote of confidence in SAD 1 with 75 percent of the voters supporting the budget districtwide,” said Superintendent Gehrig Johnson. “We continue, however, to be concerned with the extremely low voter turnout with 371 out of 8,866 voting, which is less than 4 percent.”
Prior to last Tuesday’s budget validation referendum, the district’s budget meeting was held May 10 at the Presque Isle High School cafeteria.
After electing Mike McPherson as moderator to preside over the meeting (Article 1), residents approved the following items:
• (Article 2) $8,507,515 for Regular Instruction.
• (Article 3) $2,611,375 for Special Education.
• (Article 4) $1,446,706 for Career & Technical Education.
• (Article 5) $866,810 for Other Instruction.
• (Article 6) $1,644,436, which excludes $221,833 in Federal Education Jobs Bill funds, for Student & Staff Support.
• (Article 7) $501,135 for System Administration.
• (Article 8) $1,056,403 for School Administration.
• (Article 9) $1,792,921 for Transportation and Buses.
• (Article 10) $3,283,530 for Facilities Maintenance.
• (Article 11) $583,290 for Debt Service and Other Commitments.
• (Article 12) $175,000 for All Other Expenditures including School Lunch.
• (Article 13) $5,533,776 in local tax dollars to receive all of the available state support for education.
• (Article 14) $442,727.93 for the annual payments on debt service previously approved by the legislative body for non-state funded school construction projects, non-state-funded portions of school construction projects and minor capital projects, in addition to the funds appropriated as the local share of the school administrative unit’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from pre-kindergarten to grade 12.
• (Article 15) $1,201,966.07 in additional local funds, which exceeds the state’s Essential Programs and Services allocation model by $798,264.68. A written ballot was required for this article. It was unanimously approved 97-0.
• (Article 16) $22,469,121 for the board of school directors to expend for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011 and ending June 30, 2012 from the school administrative unit’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act, unexpended balances, tuition receipts, state subsidy, and other receipts for the support of schools.
• (Article 17) $221,833 in Federal Education Jobs Bill funds.
• (Article 18) Appropriate $269,096 for Adult Education and raise $136,650 as the local share; with authorization to expend any additional, incidental, or miscellaneous receipts in and for the well being of the adult education program.
At the start of the district budget meeting, Johnson noted that SAD 1 budgets have been shrinking over the last four years, with the 2011-12 budget actually being less than the 2007 budget.
“For the upcoming fiscal year, we’ve lost $860,000 in state aid due to a decrease in the number of students and an increase in state valuations for some of the communities that comprise SAD 1,” he said. “Their value is growing at a faster rate than communities in the rest of the state … especially in southern Maine. When valuation increases at a higher percentage rate than average, the state reduces subsidy to us and distributes it to communities with declining valuation.
“This budget is just under $23 million and if approved, will reduce the local K-12 education mill rate based on state property valuations and on our July 1-June 30 fiscal year from 10.42 to 9.87 mills for district municipalities,” said Johnson. “We haven’t taxed at under 10 mills in many, many years. The budget reflects six positions lost — three teaching and three support positions — through attrition. We know these are difficult times, but we hope that the community feels it is getting the bang for its buck.”
With the passing of the budget, Presque Isle will see no increase in school taxes, Castle Hill residents will see a 2011-12 property tax levy of $229,091, an increase of less than 1 percent over last year; Chapman — $273,033 (up less than 1 percent), Mapleton — $1,166,687 (up less than 1 percent) and Westfield will see a tax levy of $270,565, a $6,250 decrease.
