OXFORD – Residents in the eight towns representing SAD 17 will be receiving their annual budget books sometime next week.

The SAD 17 Board of Directors has voted unanimously to hold the district budget meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 4, in the forum room at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris.

Earlier this month, the SAD 17 school board unanimously approved the $36.5 million fiscal 2009-10 school budget.

The proposed budget must be approved by voters in a two-step process. The first step is the district budget meeting where the annual budget will be presented to residents of all eight towns and voted on at that time.

The second step will be the district budget validation referendum, which is set for June 9. Voters will go to their individual town polling places to cast a ballot to approve or disapprove the budget.

This is the second year the state-required budget approval process has been used.

School officials say the proposed budget shows a $797,779 decrease in state subsidy money from fiscal 2009. The decrease is due in part to the way the state has calculated the towns’ property assessments in its funding formula.

The Budget Committee had requested no increases in local assessments, but because the assessments are paid on a percentage basis, towns like Paris will see an increase while others such as West Paris will see a decrease in their assessments, according to budget figures.

Superintendent Mark Eastman said this year’s budget preparation has been the most difficult in his 24 budget preparations as superintendent because of what he described as a “roller coaster ride of curtailments and bailouts while trying to maintain our program with no local tax increase.”

Eastman also commented on the need to focus on what is being called the “funding cliff” in the next fiscal year when state subsidy is expected to drop significantly.

“This year, more than any other, requires a long-term view that embraces a reality that the revenue stream may not rebound in the near term,” he said.