POLAND – Voters criticized school officials on a variety of issues late Saturday afternoon and in the end passed budgets that will translate into lowering the tax rate by about 1.6 mills.

The fate of the town’s $13 million school budget was left in the hands of fewer than 100 people.

The crowd, restive and dwindling – more than 240 had signed in earlier – came down hard on members of the School Committee in general, and on Superintendent Dennis Duquette, in particular.

School representatives argued that the proposed budget was more than $211,000 lower than last year. But voters focused on the fact that the budget exceeded the state’s essential programs and services funding model by $1,647,486.68.

Selectman Joe Cimino feared that state officials would cast an ominous eye on a budget that far over what it considered adequate and might penalize the town in the future.

Cimino said that as a businessman, he would have started his trimming with those making the highest salaries, claiming that Duquette had started at the bottom.

State Sen. Lois Snowe-Mello, a Poland resident, wanted to know if Duquette had proposed deeper cuts, but had been overridden by the School Committee.

Citizens berated school officials for a tuition contract whereby Poland residents pay about $1,000 extra for each Mechanic Falls or Minot student attending Poland Regional High School, higher than average special education costs, using six-passenger vans, disregarding a vote that only permitted a football team program if it was funded by a booster club, and allowing the development of a hockey team, with no voter input.

Several were upset with the answers to Rosemary Roy’s question about the per pupil cost at Whittier Middle School.

When the vote was finally taken, the budget passed 53-45, prompting former School Committee member Ike Levine to criticize the board for not being prepared to defend itself and answer some basic financial questions.

“I admonish you for not having communicated your great work,” Levine said.

The total budget that voters passed, down slightly on the school side, and down more than $600,000 on the town side, will provide a measure of property tax relief.

Town manager Dana Lee estimated that with a 1.6 mill drop in the tax rate, the owner of a $100,000 house will save about $160 and someone with a $250,000 property would save about $400.

Voters cut only $2,500 from Lee’s overall town budget, which also included an $11,500 cut in funding for the Ricker Library.

Acting on a number of legislative articles, voters approved reducing the minimum lot size in the town’s village tax incentive financing zone from 80,000 square feet to 20, and cut the overall area of the zone in half.

A large part of the area eliminated lies in the Trip Lake watershed.

Voters also rejected Planning Board recommendations to amend the comprehensive land use code, and, by a 117-to-69 vote, refused to alter the zoning map to allow expansion of an area for self-storage units along Route 11 in the Trip Lake watershed.

By a vote of 81-67, voters accepted Hill Valley Road as a town way.

At the meeting, Walter Gallagher, Debbie Hewes and Art Lowe were appointed to the Budget Committee.

In elections, held on Friday, Peter Bolduc Jr., unopposed, was elected selectman with 160 votes. Also running unopposed, Norman Davis was returned to the School Committee with 158 votes. Martha Stone, unopposed, was named to the School Committee with 44 write-in votes.

Elected as Ricker Library trustees were Nancy Norton, with 124 votes, and Catherine Tetenman, with 97 votes.