OLD TOWN – Before they were even aware that the Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill was going to close, the school board was facing $740,000 in budget cuts due to a decrease in enrollment and an increase in fixed costs.

The department has seen a reduction in tuition students, a 30 percent increase in heating and electrical costs, and additional “reasonable” increases in salary and benefits, Superintendent David Walker explained Monday at a public hearing on the budget.

“While we were in the process of doing that, the other shoe dropped,” Walker said.

With last month’s announcement that the Old Town mill was shutting down, city and school officials now are sharing the burden of reducing their budgets by $1.5 million to make up for the loss in property tax revenue from the mill.

Even if a buyer for the mill is found, the facility isn’t expected to operate at 100 percent capacity or be worth what it was at the time it closed.

“It’s not going to get better,” Walker said.

In addition to the $740,000 in cuts that the school board is expected to approve at a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Old Town High School, they will begin looking at another round of reductions over the next few weeks.

“There’s been a lot of hard work to get to this point,” Walker said.

Initially, the board was looking at a gross budget of $14.5 million to continue programs and make some improvements to technology and the early childhood education offerings.

The increase would have meant a net appropriation increase to the city of $1.5 million.

“My sense is that’s probably not going to be acceptable to the majority of the residents of Old Town,” Walker said.

After several budget workshops and meetings, the board decreased that figure, resulting in the $740,000 in cuts that members are expected to approve at the next board meeting.

School board Chairman Jim Dill read through the more than two-page list of reductions Monday night at the request of residents.

The lengthy list of cuts includes reductions in personnel at all schools, as well as the elimination of freshman football and an assistant swim coach at the high school. Stipends for the key, pep and chess clubs also are on the list to be eliminated.

The wrestling program had been on the chopping block, but after previously hearing from Coach Lennie Dorion and others, it is safe for now.

“We attract tuition students with this wrestling program,” Dorion said at Monday’s hearing, reinforcing his position that the program can be self-sustainable.

Pay-to-play options also are being considered, but no decision has been made.

“I need to know that every student will still be able to play,” Walker said, noting that some can’t afford to pay to participate in extracurricular activities.

Other residents expressed the need for more marketing to let others know what Old Town has to offer so they will send their children to the department, bringing in more tuition dollars.

“We’re a community and we need to stick together,” Brenda Martell of Old Town said. She and a couple of others in attendance suggested that instead of eliminating and singling out some programs, the budgets for all programs should be cut by a certain percentage.

Walker noted that region-wide there are fewer students overall. Combined with the fact that communities are competing for the students that are there, “it’s sort of a double whammy,” he said.

Walker and City Manager Peggy Daigle, who also attended the meeting, said the city and school department will continue to work together to make the necessary reductions over the next few weeks to make up for the lost revenue from the mill.

“There are no bad guys here, folks,” Walker said. “We’re working cooperatively with the city of Old Town. We’re still going to meet the needs of those children that enter our doors every morning.”