DIXFIELD – Voters in the four SAD 21 towns will act on a $10 million school budget Monday night when they gather at Dirigo High School.

Superintendent Thomas Ward said the figure is as frugal as it can get.

“We are presenting a very streamlined budget with just the bare necessities,” he said.

If the 10 articles as presented are passed, the budget will be 2.2 percent higher than this year’s $9.8 million spending plan.

During the budget preparation process, eight staff positions were eliminated. Despite the decrease, Ward said only one person lost a job because the rest are leaving through retirement or attrition. Capital projects worth more than $100,000 were also cut from the budget.

He said student population has fallen to just below 1,000, with fall enrollment expected to drop further.

Staff salaries were raised 3 percent this year.

He said the share of the total budget to be provided by Carthage and Peru increased by 6 percent and 3.78 percent, respectively, because of higher property values while Dixfield’s share declined by 2.29 percent and Canton’s rose by about 1.65 percent.

As proposed, Carthage residents will pay $258,124; Peru, $1,244,043; Dixfield, $1,331,819; and Canton, $536,747.

He said Peru’s state valuation, largely because of properties on Worthley Pond, has risen from $81 million to $98 million in the three years since the town joined SAD 21.

Among the articles is one asking for residents to approve a three-year note for the purchase of a school bus valued no higher than $93,000.

Ward said the proposed budget is just over $10 million; however, the figure that appears on the warrant is for just under $10.6 million.

He said that is because the the first year’s payment on the construction of the new elementary school has been added in. District taxpayers will not pay that; the state will.