TRI-TOWN — Voters in Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls passed all four Regional School Unit 73 budget articles Tuesday. Turnout was light.
In Jay, 234 ballots were cast, 59 of them absentees, out of about 3,250 registered voters.
In Livermore, 23 of the 111 ballots were absentees from among 1,821 registered voters.
In Livermore Falls, two of the 53 ballots were absentee out of 1,486 registered voters.
The vote had been set for July 14, but had to be changed after an error was found in the warrants. RSU 73 was one of four Maine school districts forced to rescind their budget questions because of errors.
In RSU 73, the local taxes to be raised to fund a $20.2 million budget should have been $10.2 million. Question 1 on the warrant sought authorization of $7.4 million, or $2.9 million less than needed.
The corrected Question 1 on Tuesday’s ballot passed 278-119. Voters in Jay approved it 160-74, Livermore approved it 80-30, Livermore Falls approved it 38-15.
Question 2 sought authorization for RSU 73 directors to transfer amounts exceeding 5% to other cost centers, providing the total authorized budget wasn’t increased. It passed 284-110. By town, the votes were: Jay, 163-71; Livermore, 83-27; and Livermore Falls, 38-12.
Question 3 asked to appropriate $844,645 and raise $206,965 ($68,988 per town) for the food service program. It passed 313-83, making it the most supported question of the four. The votes by town were: Jay, 182-52; Livermore, 90-21; and Livermore Falls, 41-10.
Question 4 asked to appropriate $387,939 and raise $195,000 ($65,000 per town) for adult education. It passed 277-119. Town votes were: Jay, 160-74; Livermore, 81-30; and Livermore Falls, 36-15.
RSU 73 will start school Tuesday, Sept. 8, with two-day-a-week classroom instruction for most students.
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