OXFORD — Residents from the eight towns in the Oxford Hills School District are being urged to attend Thursday night’s budget hearing.

The June 9 hearing begins at 7 p.m. at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Forum. Voters will have an opportunity to approve or change the proposed $34.6 million budget. Changes can only be made to the budget during the June 9 hearing and meeting, school officials have said.

The meeting will establish the budget that goes to a referendum on June 14 as part of the townwide election ballot in each of the eight communities served by the district.

In May, the Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors unanimously approved the $34.6 million budget.

The proposed budget of $34,650,792 is an increase of $427,670 or 1.25 percent more than approved last year. The total number would translate into an increase of 4.84 percent for local assessments. It would restore several positions and programs, including parts of the music and the wrestling programs that were on the cutting board earlier in the budget process.

Despite more than $100,000 being returned to the proposed budget from recovered state subsidies and firmer health insurance numbers, Schools Superintendent Rick Colpitts said local assessments could not be reduced further because the district would lose additional state dollars if it did not meet minimum local share numbers. The school district remains right at the door of the required local share to retain state funding.

If voters approve the $34.6 million budget on June 9, the budget will go to a referendum in each district town June 14. The question will be simply yes or no, Colpitts said.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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