FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9 administrators will bring forth suggested reductions of about $225,000 to the failed $32.97 million budget on Thursday, June 23.
The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the forum at Mt. Blue Campus.
Voters rejected the initial proposal June 14 by 137 votes in the 10-town district. It reflected an increase of $929,273, or 2.9 percent, over the current budget factoring in revenues.
The school board meeting went on for 2½ hours Tuesday with much of it spent discussing student transportation and facility operations. Farmington resident, Michael Deschenes, a vocal opponent of the initial budget, had many questions on those topics and the cuts he wanted. Turns out the cuts were made prior to the June 1 vote, according to board Chairwoman Jennifer Zweig Hebert of Starks.
An attempt to flat-fund the 2016-17 budget at the current year’s level of $32.04 million failed with only four directors supporting it. Flat-funding had been discussed during original budget discussions but was determined to be unrealistic given labor contracts previously approved.
Directors voted to have Superintendent Tom Ward bring back suggested cuts that would represent a 2.2 percent increase to the current year’s budget. It factors in an additional $50,000 in carryover to bring it to $550,000 to offset taxes.
If directors approve the 2.2 percent, or $704,966 increase over the current budget, it will mean eight of the 10 towns will see a decrease in tax assessments, Ward said.
The decreases would range from $1,843 for New Vineyard to $133,568 for Wilton. Starks and Weld would see increases of $16,447 and $30,654, respectively, because of the towns valuations, he said.
Once the board sets a proposed budget, it is expected to go to a district-wide budget vote at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14, in the Bjorn Auditorium at Mt. Blue Campus in Farmington. The proposed spending package for 2016-17 would then go to a validation referendum at the polls in all 10 towns Thursday, July 28.
dperry@sunmediagroup.com
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