OXFORD – More voters than expected turned out Tuesday for a revote on a $1.9 million portion of the SAD 17 budget, and preliminary vote counts show the amount was approved 690-523.
“It was 57 percent yes, 43 percent no,” Superintendent Mark Eastman said Tuesday night after the preliminary results had come in. “We usually run in the 60s, so, you know, it was a little closer than expected.”
The $1.9 million, which is to be raised locally, was rejected by voters at a June 14 referendum. School officials have attributed the rejection to confusion over a budget that was affected by the state’s new Essential Programs and Services Funding Act.
The state is this year providing only 84 percent of the money it is required to give municipalities under the act, leaving a gap in funding for school programs and services.
While the overall district budget of $31.2 million is up 2.98 percent, or $905,000 over last year, the local share is up by more than $700,000, or 5.26 percent.
According to the preliminary results, Oxford was the only town to reject the $1.9 million Tuesday. Town Clerk Ellen Morrison said the vote was 82-71. She said she believed more voters turned out than for the overall budget vote in June.
This time, she said, “There was more buzz, if you want to say, out there about it.”
Paris, where preliminary results show the $1.9 million passed 187-130, also had a good turnout, said Town Clerk Betty Larson. Special referendums in past years have typically netted about 120 votes.
Things were quiet at the polls in Norway on Tuesday evening, and Town Clerk Shirley Boyce said she was not surprised. “We’re not even using the (voting) machines; we’re doing a hand count,” she said.
Norway’s preliminary vote totals came in at 158-111. Resident Marjy Sessions was one of those to vote against the $1.9 million.
“I think everybody’s going to go bankrupt,” she said after dropping her ballot in the voting bin. She could not remember whether she had voted for or against the $1.9 million in June. “It’s been so confusing, I don’t know when I voted what, but I’m not in favor of so many administrators, really.”
The other towns in the district that passed the budget were: Otisfield, 68-55; Harrison, 63-54; Hebron, 36-9; Waterford, 61-50; and West Paris, 46-32.
Eastman said the passage of the $1.9 million was a relief, because otherwise the school district may have been forced to hold yet another referendum, or a town meeting-style forum.
“We’re hoping to have reached the bottom and additional state subsidy will put us in a more favorable position next year,” he added.
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