PARIS – Selectmen, school officials and politicians gathered at the town office building Wednesday night for a presentation of what SAD 17’s 2004-05 budget could look like.

The presentation by Superintendent Mark Eastman was based on no increases in the previous year’s budget. The presentation reflected the shift in support of each of the eight towns based on the funding formula that takes into account changes in property valuation and enrollments, more than the actual money each town will have to pay.

Eastman laid out the struggles the district was facing as:

• An economic slowdown.

• Little change in General Purpose Aid.

• Little or no business growth.

• Higher fuel and heating oil prices.

• Higher costs for property liability (terrorism) coverage.

• Crisis in health insurance.

• Property taxes.

General Purpose Aid is the money the state gives schools to operate.

Rep. Rosita Gagne-Friel, D-Buckfield, and Rep. Sawin Millett, R-Waterford, estimated that the district would receive about the same or slightly more than last year. Gagne, a member of the General Education Committee, said the sate really did not have a budget yet to talk about.

Millett indicated that the state budget could be assembled by the end of February.

Eastman did say that the carryover budget would not meet the $400,000 of the past two years and a $290,000 revenue decrease in that regard could be expected.

Interest earnings from investments will also be short by about $30,000.

“We can’t make any money on investments,” Eastman said. “Some rates are between eight-tenths of a percent and 1 percent.”

He said to expect a double-digit increase in medical insurance and that negotiated pay raises would add $500,000 to the budget.

“Our electrical costs have been stabilized due to a long-term commitment to a provider, and will be going down a bit,” Eastman said. “However, we still don’t have a handle on where fuel oil and diesel prices are going.”

Eastman said cost center managers, those responsible for handing in departmental budgets, have been instructed to target a 5 percent decrease for this year. He also said repair/maintenance projects would be delayed and that a reduction on at least one additional teacher, due to elementary enrollments, would save money.

He said the district was pursuing grants “in every way it could” to help with repair/maintenance projects.

With a no-increase budget Harrison, Norway, Otisfield and West Paris would all see increases in the school assessment, while the other four towns, Hebron, Oxford, Pairs and Waterford, would have decreases.

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