WALES — The RSU 4 School Board has picked a number. Now it’s time for the community to weigh in.

Directors have proposed a $17,749,537.98 budget for the next fiscal year. It’s an 0.85 percent increase over the current year, but has what Superintendent Jim Hodgkin called a “dramatic” effect on property taxes in Sabattus, Litchfield and Wales.

A house valued at $150,000 would see an increase of $148.63 in Litchfield, $245.18 in Sabattus and $216.60 in Wales.

Hodgkin pointed to $220,000 the district has to set aside for teachers’ retirement, a nearly half-million dollar drop in state aid and $397,000 that the district relied on last year in carry-over funds that don’t exist this year and have to be made up in taxes as the reasons behind that increase.

The budget cuts 9.8 teaching positions. Two are retirements and the rest would be layoffs, he said.

Spanish would be dropped at the high school and middle school. Seventh-grade sports, originally proposed for a cut, have been restored.

The budget includes money for a bus and increases in health care, fuel and electricity costs.

The district has set three public forums on details of the budget: May 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Carrie Ricker School in Litchfield; May 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Oak Hill Middle School in Sabattus; and June 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Oak Hill High School in Wales.

The public vote, when residents can propose to raise or lower any amount, is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. June 5 at Oak Hill High School.

The tri-town referendum to vote that final budget up or down is June 11.

“The information is really simple,” Hodgkin said. “It’s just a matter of whether people think they can afford it.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com

From RSU 4 Superintendent Jim Hodgkin:

“The proposed 2013-14 RSU 4 budget represents a very significant challenge for all of the taxpayers in the three towns that make up our RSU. While the budget itself is up less than 1 percent over the 2012-13 amount, the impact on the three towns is dramatic.

There is not one person sitting on the RSU 4 School Board or part of the administration of our schools that does not know how difficult it will be for the voters of our three communities to support this budget.

However, the discussion really became one that focused on just how much we felt we could cut to keep the budget at a reasonable level to bring to you. At the same time, the factors that created the huge increase are primarily out of our hands.

First, there are two issues related to funding that directly impact the budget bottom line. The money we are receiving from the state has been reduced by $446,754.72. The state is (also) requiring schools to pay the Maine State Retirement system for our employees. This is a cost the state has always paid. This is approximately $220,000. Those two numbers combined impact our bottom line by over $650,000 that is either passed on to the taxpayers or cut from the budget.

A third factor is the amount of money that we have to carry over from the current budget to the proposed budget. Last year, the RSU was able to carry over $397,095. However, the RSU will have no carry-over to bring into the 2013-14 budget.

I know that we are asking a great deal of the communities to support the increases being requested in this economy. We felt that further cuts to our schools would have irreparable effects. Counting the cuts proposed this year, RSU 4 has cut over 30 positions over the past four years.

While it may be hard to think about future budgets, there is good reason for the RSU to feel optimistic about future funding. Things have a tendency to go in trends and the factors affecting funding appear to be in our favor in future years.

Somehow, we need to find a way to get through this budget cycle without causing too much damage to our schools. We have awesome children and staff and we need to find a way to support them all.”

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