SAD 48 budget goes to board

NEWPORT – Contrary to past years, the proposed SAD 48 budget for the next school year appears to be a win-win situation. Due to a hefty surplus fund that can be used to offset expenditures, combined with a major increase in state funding, all of the six SAD 48 towns will see a decrease in their local tax assessments.

The SAD 48 board will vote on the budget proposal in a special meeting at 6:30 tonight at the central office building.

A tentative public hearing date is May 26, and voting on the final budget will be held June 7.

Last year voters took three tries to pass the SAD 48 budget, and, in 2003, it took a state record of seven votes.

Spearheading the move to decrease the budget in the past was the Committee for Reasonable Taxation. This year, CRT members have been quiet.

Asked Monday for CRT’s stand on the 2005-2006 budget, founding member Hadley Smith of Palmyra said it appeared that the group was not mounting a campaign against the budget.

“It seems the [school board] is making a serious effort to return some money to the towns. That is a welcome change,” Smith said. “I’ve been saying for years that the taxpayers should have first priority.”

Preliminary figures on the SAD 48 budget show a $17.7 million budget that represents a 4 percent increase over last year’s, but an average decrease of 10 percent in local funding.

This see-saw financing is possible because funds carried forward and swelled from higher than expected revenues will be used to offset the budget increase. Kelley Carter, the district’s business manager, said Monday that $750,124 will be taken from surplus to cover the rising budget.

In addition, SAD 48 will receive $782,612 in state allocation, a $614,846 increase.

That increase will be turned back to the SAD 48 communities in the form of lower school payments, Carter said.

This decrease in local allocation will be 12 percent for Corinna, 13 percent for Hartland, 10 percent for Newport, 8 percent for Palmyra, 10 percent for Plymouth and 11 percent for St. Albans.

In addition, Carter said the budget includes $270,000 for repairs that administrators feel are necessary to stave off property deterioration. Deleting these repairs would drop the budget by 1 percent, Carter said.

Some of the proposed repairs, and the schools they are slated for, include:

. Nokomis Regional High School – 24 new windows, $30,000; additional outside lights, bathroom repairs and a new roof over the cafeteria area, $1.2 million; paving, $65,000; boiler repairs, painting, wiring, drainage solutions, ceiling replacement, $59,200.

. Sebasticook and Somerset middle schools – new stage bleachers, $17,400 for each school.

. Corinna School – paving, $5,000.

. Hartland Elementary School – paving, $5,000.

. Newport Elementary School – paving, paint, a new bathroom, drainage solutions, fencing and flooring, $37,500.

. Palmyra Elementary School – paving and playground removal, $10,000.

. St. Albans Elementary School – pantry and wall repairs, paving and paint, $28,380.