GUILFORD – SAD 4 residents approved a proposed $5.8 million budget for 2004 on Tuesday. An effort to eliminate local additional funds from the proposal was defeated 50-18. Local additional funds are raised entirely from property taxes.

All other articles were approved without much discussion by the approximately 70 people in attendance.

A small contingent of town officials and residents from Abbot, which saw an increase in the state valuation, suggested eliminating the local additional funds of $36,256, and take it instead from the contingency or carry-forward account.

“This area is seeing a downturn, and we don’t know what’s going to happen with our industries,” Janice McAllister of Abbot said. Even though the district has closed schools, the budget still is growing and local residents are being driven off their land because they can’t pay their taxes, she said.

SAD 4 Superintendent Matthew Oliver said the directors already have applied $231,500 of the $418,853 left from previous years to offset the tax burden. In addition, the directors plan to transfer $109,013 from the carry-forward into a capital improvement reserve fund for plant maintenance and remodeling.

Oliver expects the district to carry forward between $60,000 and $100,000 from the current year, which will leave a total of about $175,000 in unexpended funds. He said the district needs an “insurance factor” to avoid having to borrow.

To Abbot Selectman Jan Ronco’s suggestion that the surplus had been built in a relatively short time, Oliver said it resulted because several anomalies occurred.

The district combined administrative positions. In addition, the district received large grants that helped pay for needed purchases, he said.

Keeping the $175,000 as carry-forward will help eliminate any peaks and valleys anticipated next year, according to Oliver. “We’re trying to smooth out the tax hit,” he said.

Charles Brown of Abbot said the district budget had increased 150 percent from 1990. “Is this what we’ve got to look forward to 15 years from now?” he asked.

SAD 4 Director Tom Ronco of Abbot commended the board for being conservative, but said he felt they could do better. The time to look after taxpayers is now, before there is a mass exodus to avoid higher taxes, he said. “We’re only one phone call away from things getting a lot worse,” he said.

Until that phone call is made, Robert Littlefield of Guilford supported the board’s effort to save some for next year. “I believe this is a good thing, to build up a cushion,” he said.