LEWISTON — Voters who made their way to the polls Tuesday overwhelmingly supported the school department’s referendum to correct a technical budget error that could have cost the city millions in state aid.

The vote was 347-32 in favor of the $1.5 million change in the school
budget. Only 379 — 1.6 percent — of the city’s 23,215 eligible voters cast ballots. 

“It’s small for voter turnout,” School Committee member James Handy said. “Obviously, the voters understood what they were voting on, as it was a technical error.”

Handy explained that the referendum corrected an error made by the school department prior to its budget being passed by the City Council. The $1.5 million change reflects money that was already appropriated for the school budget but not included in the original budget submitted to the city.

Handy said the school department stood to lose about $3 million had the change not been approved.

School systems in Maine are required to raise a minimum amount of local money to receive state aid, Handy said. If school systems do not achieve that minimum threshold, the state penalizes them by decreasing the amount of state aid provided for education, he said.

Handy said the school department’s error in the original budget submission led to it not meeting the minimum amount of local revenue. The $1.5 million correction reflects the school system’s debt service for capital expenditures.

“So, not only does this not impact local taxes negatively, it brings in another $3 million in state funds to educate our students,” Handy said.