The third adoption of a 2010 budget for RSU 12 was speedy.
On Saturday, voters swiftly approved all articles as written. The $26,492,447 spending plan represents a total reduction in local funds of $346,050 since the budget failed a second time in late July.
Voters in each of the eight towns will validate the figure on Tues., Sept. 29 at the polls.
After nearly 90 minutes of questions and answers, a majority of about 100 registered voters who gathered at Windsor Elementary School seemed willing to raise property taxes for the sake of keeping education programs and existing teachers.
RSU 12 towns are Chelsea, Palermo, Somerville, Windsor, Whitefield, Alna, Westport Island and Wiscasset.
Supt. Greg Potter cited reductions made since the July meeting: $85,000 less in salaries, and shifting $30,000 for books and other materials to Title I funding. Revenues were increased by factoring in $225,000 in Medicaid funds.
Potter also said consolidation has achieved a 9.7 percent reduction in administrative costs: 29 percent in the superintendent’s office and 36.6 percent in school board costs.
The biggest blow to the budget, and a major reason for its pricey total, he said, was “a significant loss” of $1.3 million in state funding, a 10.6 percent decrease. There’s a “distinct possibility” there will be further curtailments, he said.
Kim Andersson, of Wiscasset, who represents that town on the board of directors, prevailed over a motion made by Stephen Smith of Whitefield. Smith advocated a $1.5 million overall cut in the budget. Andersson swept in with a motion to restore the original amount, which the majority approved. Richard DeVries of Westport Island then moved to group all the articles, except the additional local funds article, which requires a written ballot. That figure was $6 million and carried by a 73-22 vote.
Particularly nettlesome for Alna, one of the smallest towns in the unit, was the amount it has to pay as its portion of RSU cost sharing. Local funds required after the application of carryover money went up 53 percent, said town treasurer Nick Caristo. Taxes have shot up 33 percent, or $1000 per household, he said, because of school budget increases.
“This was totally unexpected,” he added, and he was puzzled by how the town got into this situation since “our school population has remained the same.”
The remaining balance in each town’s school account (carryover) may be applied as a credit to reduce that town’s contribution to the RSU, according to an explanatory note included in the warrant. Alna’s estimated 2008-09 carryover was one of the smallest.
RSU 12 finance committee member Hilary Holm explained that Alna’s balance “went down tremendously,” from $250,000 to $77,000 last year, and an additional hit was the decrease in state subsidy. “If you’re going to have even a similar amount (the coming year), your local is going to have to go up to compensate,” she said.
Towns having hefty estimated carryovers are Chelsea with $567,299, Whitefield with $396,749 and Westport Island with $224,636.
“If the state were supplying the same money as previously, it would be a lot more pleasant,” Potter said. “I wish the impact on the local side were different. The reality is we have a new RSU formed, and there are laws we have to go by.”
Deb Potter of Wiscasset asked what savings there might be for Westport Island and Alna if they sent students to Wiscasset High School.
Finance committee chairman Jerry Nault replied that, at $8000 per student tuition cost, if the high school can absorb 10 students across all grade levels so there is no need to hire more teachers, the RSU could save $80,000.
A voter asked what could be done to assure students attend the district high school. Potter replied, “Currently the law allows choice, so it isn’t as if we can assign those students to Wiscasset.”
News to most people attending the meeting was Nault’s revelation about what he called “the elephant in the gymnasium.” To pay teachers over the summer, he said, the RSU had to borrow $2 million from the bank. “It was an obligation coming from the previous year when all the other school units went out of business” and RSU 12 officially started up July 1. “We’re going to have to eat that elephant,” he said, by using carryover money to pay off the cost.
Potter urged voters to go to the polls and “make your voices heard” on Tuesday.