JAY — About 70 residents from the three member towns of RSU 73 approved an operating budget of $18.58 million for the 2013-14 school year during a districtwide, town meeting-style vote Tuesday night.

The adopted budget is about $10,000 less than the current year’s operating budget.

The budget must now go before voters for a referendum validation election on April 23. Residents of the three towns can vote from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the town offices of Livermore Falls, Livermore and Jay.

Superintendent Robert Wall kicked off the night by explaining the two parts of any budget: revenues and expenditures.

He said revenues from the state and federal governments and tuition had been reduced, along with the proposed budget. But because of shrinking revenue, the amount that must be raised has increased for Livermore and Livermore Falls, while Jay residents will see a slight decrease because of that town’s increase in valuation.

He also told residents that the cost per pupil has dropped significantly since the former RSU 36 in Livermore Falls and the Jay School Department merged. Before the consolidation, the per-pupil cost for high school students was $10,190. Now it is $9,216. For elementary children, the figure dropped to $6,093 from $7,455.

Wall said that all costs, except for those involved in student instruction, are less in the 2013-14 budget than they were in the current budget.

Attendees at the budget vote unsuccessfully tried to amend two of the 19 articles of the budget.

The largest monetary article is for regular instruction, which increased 7 percent from last year, from $7.5 million to $8 million.

Livermore Falls resident Eric Rodzen said he wanted to cut $1 million from the entire budget. He motioned to reduce regular instruction by $700,000, but the amendment was defeated. Voters then approved the original figure.

Brenda Brochu proposed another amendment to the school board’s recommendation to allot $929,287 for school administration. She wanted to cut that figure by $72,000. That amendment was also defeated.

During last year’s budget process, three referendum votes were needed before a budget was passed. Voters at each of the districtwide meetings had approved the recommended budgets.

Wall said that each time, the board had to reduce its recommended figure, making a very tight margin.