Orono seeks compromise on town, school budgets

ORONO – Multiple drafts of the town and school budget have been made, but residents and officials still aren’t satisfied.

On the municipal side, the council and town staff have worked to create a budget with minimal increase to taxpayers while developing a sustainable plan for the future that still provides residents with quality services, they say.

In the end, taxpayers will see a 17-cent increase per $1,000 of valuation over last year, for a total municipal budget of $7.26 million. About $3 million is proposed to be raised through taxes.

“The [councilors] feel really strongly that LD 1 sent a message to us,” Town Manager Cathy Conlow said Wednesday.

A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 1, at the town office before residents vote June 13 on the budget.

The Legislature voted in January to increase the so-called homestead exemption for homeowners, but reduced the reimbursement from the state to the towns to 50 percent. It also reorganized school funding, which has made the budget process a challenge.

For the last year or so, the council and town officials have been working to reorganize some services and positions, such as maintenance and code enforcement duties.

As with some surrounding towns, it’s the school budget that’s causing the most controversy.

After hearing the school’s most recent proposed budget of a 2.8 percent increase, the council directed the school board to come back with a zero percent increase.

With projected fixed cost increases of about $450,000, that’s going to be difficult, Superintendent Kelly Clenchy said Thursday.

The majority of that increase is from contractual salary raises of 5 percent, he said.

The annual salary for Orono teachers is about $3,000 below the state average of $39,611, and the pay increase is comparable to other communities in the area, Clenchy said.

The superintendent said he hopes that in the end a compromise between the school, town officials and residents can be reached.

Some concerned residents have formed a group to address the school budget issue.

“All we know is that there’s a budget proposal on the table and it calls for the elimination of 71/2 full-time positions, and that includes four full-time teachers,” Orono resident Sandy Cyrus said Thursday in a phone interview.

Cyrus and a group of about 100 concerned residents and parents in the last week have formed a group called Take a Stand for Music. They are upset that one of the positions slated to be cut is the school’s orchestra director.

“We’re going to try to reinstate it,” Clenchy said Thursday. He also explained that the money to be saved is equivalent to those positions, but each school is working to shift funds internally so that as many teachers, programs and services as possible can remain intact.

“That’s really good news to me that they’re going back to drawing board again,” Cyrus said. She added that she’s hopeful, but intends to continue with efforts to make officials aware of public sentiment.

She and other members of Take a Stand for Music have planned a silent protest on the Orono bridge from 4 to 5 p.m. today “to raise awareness that our school programs are threatened by this mood in the nation for budgets to come in at a zero percent increase.”

“What I see for the future is a coalition [of] parents and school administrators working together,” Cyrus said.

Clenchy had similar thoughts.

“We want to continue to work with the town,” he said, adding that he hopes in the near future to have more opportunities for public dialogue.