SALEM TOWNSHIP – SAD 58 directors finalized the 2013-14 budget Thursday night and scheduled a public hearing for 6 p.m. June 13 at Mt. Abram High School.

Voters in Strong, Phillips, Kingfield and Avon will go to the polls June 18 to decide on the $9,258,758 spending plan.

Directors added $200,000 to the proposed $350,000 balance carried forward and modified final cost center totals, reducing the original proposal from $9,324,858 to $9,258,758.

The proposed budget is $256,933 less than the current year.

Directors hoped to add a custodian position but agreed to wait another year.  Custodial overtime was cut, as well as overtime for bus drivers and fuel. Directors agreed not to include money for paving parking lots this year.

Money for a full-time principal for each school and $58,625 for a full-time social worker were included in the budget.

The increases are not due to the Eustis withdrawal, Superintendent Brenda Stevens has emphasized at each budget meeting. The board has had no control over Anthem Insurance’s 3 percent rate increase, health insurance requirements of the Affordable Care Act, state and federal cutbacks, and the Maine Legislature’s ED 279 plan to shift some teacher retirement costs to the district.

In past years, other districts have offered health insurance for employees working more than 30 hours per week. SAD 58 has not chosen to offer insurance to those employees in past years, so the financial impact is greater.

Strong director Marc Edwards asked board members to start planning next year’s budget as soon as this year’s budget is approved. He suggested addressing the expensive repairs the high school needs, even if it means deciding to close the building.

“At what point is the public willing to pay for the students’ education?” he asked.

At the last budget review, the board agreed to eliminate a study hall monitor position, saving $20,000 and health benefits. The employee resigned her position, but curtailment funding also left a gap in funding her replacement.

The district has shared costs for a Mt. Blue Regional School District music teacher to teach music, but since RSU 9 decided to cut back on his hours, that teacher will not be available to SAD 58 in the coming year. Directors agreed to try to find a way to continue fund the position for a music teacher.

Representatives from district towns asked directors to consider the impact on taxpayers.

“I’d get on my knees and beg you if I could,” Phillips selectman Andy Phillips said. “Any kind of tax increase is going to crush us.”