HOULTON, Maine — Residents will have an opportunity May 21 to weigh in on the proposed RSU 29 financial plan for the 2013-14 school year during the annual district budget meeting.
The school board unanimously approved the budget during its Monday night meeting at Houlton High School. Unlike previous years, this time residents will be able to raise or lower individual line items at the district meeting.
Last year, local turnout was sparse for the district budget meeting with only 30 residents attending.
Because the Maine Legislature has yet to finalize its spending plan for the next fiscal year, two budgets will be brought forward to residents at the district meeting At issue is the state’s proposal to force local school districts to pick up the cost of retirement plans in their local budgets. In the past, the state has included the expense as part of its regular budget.
The first budget in the amount of $12,669,258, includes the cost of paying for the teacher retirements at the local level. The second budget, in the amount of $12,499,244, does not include the retirement package.
That amount of $12,499,244 is the exact same amount as last year’s budget.
Regardless of which budget is approved, the required amount to be raised by local tax dollars is going up next year. Essentially, the state is giving RSU 29 more money next year, but in order to receive the state funds, the required local share — the amount that must be raised through taxes — is also going up.
The state is giving the district $8,718,391 next year, which is an increase of $182,264. However, in order to get those funds the required local share, as mandated by the state, for RSU 29 will be $3,206,694. That amount is an increase of $256,810 over last year’s figure.
The district could choose to accept less than the required local amount under a provision offered by the state, but that plan is only being offered for one more year, according to finance committee chairman Fred Grant. If the district were to accept less money from the state this year, it would face a much larger spike next year.
Because most school districts spend more than what the state says they should spend, additional local funds must be raised in many communities to balance the budget. In RSU 29, however, no additional local dollars have been sought for the past four years as the district has either made cuts or taken money from its surplus account to cover the additional local costs.
Exactly how that increase in the required local share will impact the individual communities of Houlton, Littleton, Monticello and Hammond has yet to be determined.
School districts begin a new fiscal cycle on July 1 and any district that has not approved a new budget is required to operate on the previous year’s budget until voters authorize a new spending plan.
“We have made a lot of cuts to the budget and also have shifted resources,” said Grant. “Our goals (for this budget) were three-fold. The first was to create financial stability for this district for the next five to seven years in an environment of significant academic changes and state funding shifts.”
In order to come up with a budget that was essentially flat, numerous cuts were made by the district’s finance committee. At the request of the committee, administrators trimmed more than $500,000 from last year’s expenses to offset increase in health care premiums, negotiated salary increases and the need for new technology.
“Some of the decisions have been very difficult,” Grant said. “Our budget is going to be the exact same amount as last year. It’s pretty remarkable.”
The board also sought to limit the increase in the budget to no more than 2.5 percent while still giving the administration and staff the flexibility to cut and adjust the budget to meet the needs of students.
Grant noted that RSU 29 continues to be near the bottom of the list when it comes to how much money it spends per pupil for education. RSU 29 spends an average of $8,032 per student each year. In comparison, SAD 1 (Presque Isle) spends $9,637 per student on average. Isle au Haut has the highest per pupil cost in the state at $62,132.
The board allowed members of the public to comment on the proposed budget. Only two members of the Houlton Town Council attended Monday night’s meeting, while no municipal representatives from the communities of Littleton, Monticello or Hammond were present.
Included in the list of budget cuts were $13,725 in stipends for positions that have not been filled for several years and $20,765 in stipends that were eliminated for various positions. The district’s music department was also trimmed by $20,000.
A plan to purchase updated radios for school buses was eliminated, as was a plan to install automated bleachers in the high school gymnasium. In addition, one teaching position was eliminated at Wellington Elementary School; a teaching position at Houlton High School was reduced to half time; and the elimination of a librarian position at Wellington Elementary School.
One of the proposed stipend cuts seeks the elimination of junior varsity baseball and softball starting next year. Board member John Tribou questioned why this sport was targeted for elimination, instead of others.
“I am not happy about jayvee baseball and softball being cut,” Tribou said. “I would ask our superintendent and A.D. (athletic director) to look at those programs and services for next year that are funded and see if some of those dollars could be allocated to this. I feel it is important to offer the jayvee level of play. It’s huge transition from eighth grade to varsity baseball.”
He suggested taking a look at money spent on separate seventh and eighth grade basketball programs to see if those teams could be combined into one so that funding for junior varsity baseball and softball could continue.
Superintendent Mike Hammer said the rationale for eliminating the baseball and softball programs was based on numbers. This spring, there were insufficient numbers to have a junior varsity softball program and only three baseball players. To fill out the junior varsity baseball team, members of the varsity squad have been used.
The district budget meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Houlton High School Auditorium.
