March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Hearing scheduled on SAD 48 budget> 1998-99 increase held to 3 percent, includes improvements to Corinna, Palmyra schools

NEWPORT — If taxpayers in the six towns of SAD 48 have any questions about the $11.9 million budget proposed for 1998-99, a public hearing is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport.

A regular meeting of the board of directors will follow at 7:30.

Voters will go to the polls in their respective towns Monday, June 22, for the budget referendum.

With just a 3 percent increase in the overall budget, Superintendent William Braun said there are no huge changes. All planned improvements will be funded by General Purpose Aid push money from the Department of Education. The GPA push actually is an accounts receivable owed to the district from previous years. The money will be used for repairs at the Palmyra Consolidated School and Nokomis and for construction at Corinna Elementary School.

Taxpayers in the district are being asked to raise $3.6 million locally toward the budget. The balance of the funding comes from $6.3 million in state aid, $209,000 in state support for debt service, and other contributions, including tuition, $450,000; unemployment refund, $4,000; interest, $40,000; JROTC, $40,000; a balance forward of $625,000; and miscellaneous revenues of $99,301. The total operating budget is $11.4 million, but voters will be asked to approve an $11.9 million budget to include authorization to expend the GPA push funds.

The increase in the district budget may be small compared to previous years, but individual towns will not have the same benefit. Five of the six towns will experience a percentage increase in their assessments more than double the 3 percent overall increase.

With changes in state valuation, the town of Hartland will experience the largest increase at 17 percent. Still, the tax rate there will increase less than one mill, according to Town Manager Peggy Morgan.

“SAD 48 is doing the best it can,” Morgan said, pointing out new growth and construction in the community that will fund the increased assessment.

“With less than a mill increase, I’m not going to kick,” Morgan added.

St. Albans taxpayers will see a full mill increase, taking their tax rate from $16 per $1,000 of valuation to $17, according to Town Manager Larry Post.

“It’s not the district’s fault. They’ve done a terrific job keeping the budget down to the point where we have the lowest per-student costs in the state. The problem is with the state. It seems we here in central Maine are getting the short end of the stick with the school funding formula,” Post said.

Newport taxpayers traditionally see a larger increase in the school assessment primarily because the town funds a larger portion of the budget. This year is no exception. At the March town meeting, voters were told the tax rate was projected to increase to $15.70 per $1,000 of valuation. That figure was scheduled to increase by 0.37 mill if the industrial park proposal was approved. With the increase in the SAD 48 assessment, Town Manager Ken Knight said another 0.67 mill could be added to the rate, bringing it up to $16.70.

In Palmyra, it may be difficult to hold the line on taxes with the increase in the school budget assessment, according to Administrative Assistant Heather McAnirlin. The rate has held at $11.30 for the past two years, she said.

Corinna and Plymouth have the lowest increases in local assessment, Corinna at 2 percent and Plymouth at 6.9 percent. Officials of the two towns were not available Friday to comment on the school budget’s impact on local taxes.


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