By Jami Badershall,Staff Writer

RANGELEY – At $2,607,157, the Rangeley Lakes Regional School budget for 2006-07 is a 12 percent increase, or almost $280,000 more than in 2005-06.

Residents passed the budget Thursday at the annual town meeting.

The town’s share will increase $223,346 to $2,130,294. In a letter to residents, Superintendent Phil Richardson said there are two main factors contributing to the increase. More than $87,000 of it is because of new debt service incurred by the two new bonds for a roof and renovations approved by the Rangeley taxpayers in the spring of 2005, he said

Richardson said the major reason for the change is the loss of $177,008 in state subsidy to Rangeley “due to errors made by the Maine Department of Education last year when they implemented the new school funding formula known as Essential Programs and Services. In essence, Rangeley received an overpayment in the amount noted above,” he said.

Richardson wrote that the state recently discovered the mistake and adjusted Rangeley’s state allocation. “Thus we began the budget process with $177,008 less than we thought we might have,” he said.

The town also voted Thursday to allow the Rangeley School Committee to create a school capital reserve fund for several improvements and repairs at the school, which are estimated to cost $500,000. Rangeley will contribute $260,000 of that total, the amount by which the state’s Essential Programs Funding model will be exceeded.

To be replaced are the boilers at $98,721, interior lighting at $60,439, and kitchen and cafeteria equipment at $34,139. A total of $116,899 will be spent on handicapped accessibility needs, including new doors and ramps and accessible bathrooms.

The district will spend almost $133,000 on health, life safety and code issues, including $35,000 on a generator to power the school in case of a local, state or national crisis or disaster. Other big ticket items include a security system for $25,840 and erosion control for $23,368.