Orrington, Orland get school tax break

ORRINGTON – Union 91 will get extra funds from the state because of a conservative accounting move, according to a school official.

The funds will be used to reduce the amount that taxpayers in the Union 91 communities of Orrington and Orland will pay, Superintendent Allan Snell said Wednesday.

Union 91 residents will vote on the final budget on June 7 at the annual budget meeting.

When the school budget was created for Union 91, school leaders used Education Commissioner Susan Gendron’s lower figures for the state subsidy than those proposed by Gov. John Baldacci. By doing so, the school union now is going to receive additional funds, Snell said.

“We were able to adjust the local appropriation down by $29,000,” he said. “We are now requesting [from taxpayers] $74,959, or 2.73 percent beyond what we’re [appropriated] for this year.”

The actual amount of state subsidy for Maine schools is between Gendron’s figures and Baldacci’s figures. That means that Union 91 will get more money than anticipated.

The preliminary budget has increased by 2.34 percent to $5.41 million from last year’s nearly $5.29 million.

Board members learned on Tuesday that this year’s projected state subsidy for the district is $2,331,899. That figure was used to create a revised budget, which then was approved by the board. That revised budget is what voters will consider next month.

Last year, local residents paid $2.75 million for education, and this year, the amount is $2.82 million.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the board also set the calendar for the 2004-2005 school year.