SAD 22 directors approve 4.87 percent budget hike

HAMPDEN – The SAD 22 board of directors Wednesday approved a $17.6 million budget, 4.87 percent higher than last year’s budget.

The proposal includes $61,000 to phase in all-day kindergarten at Newburgh Elementary School, Smith School in Winterport and McGraw School in Hampden.

Towns will vote on the budget June 11.

The plan calls for a local property tax assessment of $7.2 million, an increase of 3.18 percent.

Divided among the district’s three towns, the assessments would be:

. Hampden, $4.46 million, a 2.37 percent increase over last year;

. Newburgh, $802,810, a 3.38 percent increase;

. Winterport, $1.99 million, a 4.95 percent increase.

Hampden Town Manager Susan Bruno said the proposed school budget is planned to have no effect on the tax rate of $21.10 per $1,000 of valuation. “The goal of the [town] council is to keep the mill rate the same,” she said.

In Newburgh, Town Manager Randy Brown said he hadn’t yet calculated the impact on the tax rate, which currently is $17 per thousand dollars of valuation.

And in Winterport, Town Manager Lucky LaChance said residents would be looking at a 70 cent increase on the tax rate of $16.60 per thousand dollars of valuation.

Public forums on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, June 3, at Samuel Wagner Middle School in Winterport; 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, at Newburgh Elementary School; and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, at Reeds Brook Middle School in Hampden.

Most of the proposed increase is due to hikes in salaries and health insurance rates, Superintendent Rick Lyons said. The rest can be chalked up to the new kindergarten program, higher costs for fuel, utilities, and property and casualty insurance, and the purchase of a portable classroom at Hampden Academy.