NEW VINEYARD – Proposed budget cuts by SAD 9 administrators just won’t cut the mustard for residents of New Vineyard. They think more slashing can be done.

As of now, the proposed district budget for the 2003-04 academic year is $21,285,352, a 2.5 percent increase from last year’s $20,765,361 budget.

Because of a slew of position cuts, the proposed budget is actually less than the total negotiated salary/benefits increases for district staff of $763,000.

That proposed budget is not set in stone, and board members will work over the next two months to whittle the figure down before it goes to a vote in June.

Despite the effort by administrators to keep the budget low, David Hargreaves of New Vineyard doesn’t understand why taxpayers in his small town have to contribute $462,701 to the budget, an increase of 5.33 percent from last year’s assessment of $422,330.

Fellow residents showed they agreed when more than 60 people recently signed a petition to get a special town meeting to discuss forming an advisory committee to help keep the budget down.

“This is probably the most important meeting we will ever have or have had,” said Hargreaves. “Now is the time for the taxpayers to take control of the SAD 9 budget. We cannot tolerate any more wasting of our money.”

He proposes that an advisory budget committee be formed in each of the nine towns in the district, comprised of five or seven residents who will “pick it all apart” in hopes of saving a “few million.”

Armed with a fine-tooth comb, each committee, he said, could analyze the budget and then work with their local school board representatives and district administrators to make recommendations on where fat can be trimmed.

Hargreaves, who watched his three sons go through SAD 9 schools, is quick to point out that providing a good education to area children is important, but says the cost of the district budget doesn’t always reflect the quality of education the students actually receive.

“I don’t want to see anyone lose their jobs or our kids miss out on a good education, but it’s about time they make some serious cuts and buckle down,” he said. “It isn’t going to hurt nothing to look at it.”

New Vineyard selectwoman Fay Adams agrees that tightening needs to be done and says that her fellow selectmen are in support of Hargreaves’ proposal. “We feel it’s time something is done about the rising costs of our schools. We need people to seriously and intelligently inspect the budget,” Adams said.

Adams thinks that power in numbers will prevail and hopes there will be a strong turnout at the special town meeting and that other towns follow suit in forming committees. “We just can’t afford it,” she said. “I don’t know what part of no they don’t understand.”

The special town meeting in New Vineyard will be held at Smith Hall at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 12. Anyone concerned about the SAD 9 budget is strongly encouraged to come, says Hargreaves.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com