CANTON – The SAD 21 board voted unanimously Monday night in support of defeating the so-called Palesky tax-cap proposal.

“We’d have at least a 30 percent cut in our budget,” said Superintendent Tom Ward prior to the vote.

He said the resolution was distributed to most school administrative districts by the Maine School Management Association.

“We want to support our municipalities. This would be a good gesture from the school board,” he said. “I encourage people not to vote for the tax cap.”

Ward had met with Dixfield Town Manager Nanci Allard, and has learned of the potential impact of the tax proposal on each of the towns in the SAD 21 district. He said Dixfield would be hit the hardest, with a 52 percent reduction in property tax collection. Canton would see a 32 percent dip, and Carthage and Peru would have similar decreases.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. “All our communities would lose a significant amount of money. No way could we come to the people with (our usual) budget proposal.”

Ward attended the Maine Municipal Association’s information session in Skowhegan. Board member Leslie Skibitsky went to a similar meeting at Oxford Hills High School last week.

Both agree the proposal would be devastating.

Board member Sonya Fuller said the proposal would essentially shut down area towns.

Ward said the board’s vote will likely be used as ammunition by the MMA to defeat the proposal. The tax-cap initiative calls for capping property taxes at $10 per $1,000 valuation.

“Whether the tax cap is voted on or not, there are other tax-cap measures out there, until there’s some real property tax relief,” he said.

At the SAD 43 board meeting last week, that board decided not to take a stance on the matter. Selectmen in Mexico also did not take a position. The Rumford board may take a position at their meeting on Thursday. It was not known whether the Dixfield Board of Selectmen acted on the matter at their meeting Monday.

Voters will decide on the issue during the Nov. 2 general election.

Also on Monday, the SAD 21 board appointed Dixfield resident Virginia Bradeen to a seat on the Region 9 School of Applied Technology Cooperative Board. She is the parent of children who have successfully completed vocational programs at the school. She replaces Ralph Sayer of Canton. SAD 21 must fill one more position on the vocational school board.