WILTON — An overview of school funding, the education tax rate and the proposed preliminary district school budget for 2016-17 were presented Monday at a Regional School Unit 9 budget information meeting at Academy Hill School in Wilton.
The preliminary budget directors have begun deliberations on is $33.5 million, a $1.5 million, or, 4.7 percent increase from the current budget. In addition, there is more than $700,000 in requests from administrators and program directors not in the proposal.
It was the first of three informational meetings scheduled this week. The remaining meetings are at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 6, at Farmington Recreation Center and at 6 p.m., Thursday, April 7, at the Cape Cod Hill School in New Sharon.
Some people voiced concerns Monday about the rising cost of education and the financial capability to pay their taxes to keep their homes. Concerns were also raised about the rising cost of special education.
Others voiced concerns about the $87,500 salary a new middle school administrator will make next year compared to the veteran principal who is retiring, which is about $82,000. It was also noted that employees in the state Department of Education and at the University of Maine at Farmington do not make as much as the new principal will make.
The district is trying to stay competitive with other school districts for staff wages to keep them in the district, Superintendent Tom Ward said.
Ward did have some good news about revenues, including that there will be no increase in costs for employee health insurance in the coming year. About $400,000 of the $1.5 million, or 4.7 percent increase, was budgeted for health insurance. The district is also expected to have $500,000 in carryover to help offset any increase because of the budget being frozen due to unexpected special education costs this year and cost-saving measures put in place.
Normally the district averages between $150,000 to $200,000 annually in carryover, Ward said.
The Legislature’s addition of $15 million to General Purpose Aid to Education has also decreased a proposed education tax rate of $8.44 to $8.29 per $1,000 of state valuation. It means that instead of having to raise an additional $240,000 to get the state’s 100 percent allocation, the towns will have to raise about $70,000 more.
Ward pointed out that the RSU 9’s cost per pupil is about $9,225 while other school districts in the area are higher.
The goal of the board is to come in with a budget increase of less than 3.3 percent, Ward said. In the past two years, the budget has increased by about $2.3 million.
“Our job is to present a budget that meets the needs of all our students and be fiscally responsible to our towns,” Ward said.
The board will continue deliberations on the budget at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, in The Forum at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington. The meetings are being recorded and streamed live. The live streaming link is on the district’s website www.mtbluersd.org on the right side of the main page.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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