SAD 31 to hold another budget vote

HOWLAND – The SAD 31 budget committee will meet tonight to look for ways to trim the school budget proposal.

As the result of two separate daylong referendum votes, five of the 19 budget questions have yet to be approved by district voters.

Beth Turner, committee chairman, said the committee will review the budget and ask administrators for suggestions on how it can be cut.

The committee will meet at 7 p.m. in the superintendent’s conference room.

During a special meeting on Tuesday, the SAD 31 school board voted to hold another daylong referendum for voters to reconsider the defeated budget articles. The board’s action came after some debate about whether the remaining budget articles should be decided by residents in a single-night district meeting or in another daylong referendum vote.

A motion to hold a district meeting was defeated by a vote of 9-5. Proponents of the single-night meeting said voters in their respective towns didn’t want another referendum vote.

But some members said they believed the board had no choice but to hold another referendum because to do otherwise would go against district voters, who two years ago approved that method of considering school budgets.

Another motion to hold a third referendum vote was approved by the board.

No date has been set for the third referendum vote. According to school law, the vote must be held within 45 days of the July 26 vote.

Superintendent Keith Cook said the vote must be held by Sept. 7 to meet the 45-day deadline.

Once the board’s budget committee makes its recommendations, Cook said, board members plan to hold meetings with officials of the eight towns. The meetings will be held during the next few weeks.

During the July 26 referendum, district voters turned down five of the 13 budget articles. They include: special education; authorization to allow the school board to transfer up to $85,000 from one budget line to another; debt service; a summary budget article related to local funds; and a summary article authorizing the board to expend the $6,004,646 budget.

Cook said there seemed to be some confusion about the article allowing the board to transfer funds from one budget line to another in the event of an emergency, such as a school boiler quitting, or to provide special education services to a new student.

The superintendent said that years ago, the district had a contingency fund in the budget, but this budget does not contain a contingency fund. He said the article authorizing the board to transfer funds of up to $85,000 in the event of an emergency does not raise any money.

“This simply gives the board permission” to transfer funds in an emergency, he said Wednesday.

Without the transfer permission, should an emergency occur during the school year, the board would have to call a referendum vote in the eight towns to receive permission to transfer funds, Cook said.

He said the referendum to get transfer permission would cost district taxpayers money because each referendum costs nearly $5,000.