SALEM TOWNSHIP – A handful of voters Tuesday approved a proposed $9.8 million budget for SAD 58’s 2011-12 fiscal year.

Forty-eight voters came to Mt. Abram High School to question the board and Superintendent Quenten Clark on all budget articles that comprised the final amount.

“The budget is up by $150,000,” he said. The district will use $650,000 from surplus to mitigate the impact of the budget on the local tax base.

Strong, Eustis and Phillips will see their share go down; Avon’s share will stay the same. Kingfield’s share will increase, because its valuation increased, according to state revenue figures.

Voters approved $426,000 to cover costs above the state’s approved formula for cost-per-student funding.

Phillips resident Lauri Sibulkin said he was concerned about the lack of voter participation in the budget process. He asked the audience to consider the consequences of approving higher budgets each year, although many towns continue to lose populations and jobs.

“How many of you have brothers or sisters or cousins who just moved away because they couldn’t find jobs?” he asked. “How many of you make $10 an hour or less? How many of you got a raise? How many of you got laid off?”

Neal McCurdy, a Kingfield selectman, responded to Sibulkin’s comments. Only a few months ago, McCurdy noted, those same towns that needed to save money the most had voted against combining services and sharing a superintendent with Anson-based SAD 74.

“We voted no to consolidate and save $200,000 to $250,000,” he noted.

Article amounts, rounded off, included: $3.5 million for regular instruction, $1.5 million for special education, $164,000 for other instruction, $758,000 for student and staff support, $368,000 for system administration, $721,000 for school administration, $668,000 for transportation and buses, $1.6 million for facilities maintenance, $454,000 for debt service and other commitments, and $5.8 million for Essential Programs and Services.

Voters approved appropriating nearly $55,000 for the district, with $17,500 coming from towns.

Mervin Wilson, a Kingfield selectman, suggested cutting $288,100, which is what the district requires from taxpayers to pay what the state will not.

Clark suggested that after voters had approved the previous amounts, reducing the budget by that amount would require a re-vote on those previously approved articles. The amendment failed.

District voters will go to the polls Tuesday, June 7, for a final vote on the budget.