What’s the proposed budget and its impact?

The Lewiston School Department preliminary budget is $69.9 million, a 7.8 percent increase. Superintendent Bill Webster said he expects these numbers will go down.

Property taxes are estimated to increase by 3.9 percent ($58.50 more per year for a home assessed at $150,000).

Why is it up so much?

“Lewiston is a growing community,” Webster said. “When your student population is going up 5 percent a year as it has been of late, and when you consider the additional costs of our growing special ed population, it doesn’t take much to get to that 7 percent level.”

Lewiston had 5,431 students in October 2015, an increase of 270 from the spring. A recent outside study had projected Lewiston would gain 100 students.

What are major increases?

• $1.92 million for 45 new positions, of which 33 are for special education.

• $723,672 for positions added last fall to meet a growing number of students last year.

• $500,000 for transportation from a new, five-year contract with Hudson Bus.

• $467,000 for summer programs to prevent summer learning loss; a grant that paid for the programs has expired.

• $163,000 for professional days for teachers to help implement new initiatives, including the state-mandated Proficiency Based Learning.

• $86,000 to pay for a new plumbing program at Lewiston Regional Technical Center.

• $1.2 million for increases in teacher raises, benefits and supplies.

When do voters decide on a budget?

May 10