Lubec school budget vote: sixth time's the charm

The Lubec school board needed three months to pass its sixth budget proposal, but it took the 34 voters who showed up at the October 4 referendum only 55 minutes to approve the 13‑article warrant, shepherded through by Moderator Cecil Moores. Each article passed by unanimous voice vote, but some prompted questions, mostly from former board member Wanda Matthews.
The approved budget calls for a total local revenue of $1,822,314, a reduction of $22,398 from the 2017‑2018 fiscal year budget, or 1.2% less. AOS 77 Superintendent Kenneth Johnson pointed out, "This budget means your taxes will change. They will go down."
Increases included $86,803 for total regular instruction, partially driven by an uptick of $35,562 in total secondary instruction. In response to a question, Johnson pointed to the section of the proposed budget, which had been distributed, that showed that three more Lubec high school students were now tuitioned to area high schools, bringing the total to 40 and increasing the expense line accordingly. The total tuition amount is now $469,469, most of which goes to Washington Academy. This figure does not include transportation costs, which are not broken out separately.
Budget increases were offset by modest belt‑tightening in administrative costs, but primarily by an increase in the state subsidy of $97,877 to a total of $241,411 and a fund balance forward transfer of $125,000. "Our auditors took a look at this transfer," Johnson said. "They said it was legal and thought it a good idea." The proposed grand total of all expenditures -- the entire school budget -- that was passed by voters is $2,231,615, an increase of $187,119 over the 2017‑18 budget.
Johnson pointed out that the delay in passing the budget did result in some transfers to cover salaries and other expenses, as the fiscal year ended June 30 and the school year is well under way. In most cases in recent years the school budget referendum has been held in June; the exception was 2014 when it was delayed until July.
Many of the other questions posed during the referendum had to do with unexpended funds from 2017‑18 that continued to be included in the proposed budget. Johnson explained that most of these were contractual obligations included in union contracts, and any unspent funds are ultimately moved to the unallocated account and thus available for subsequent uses, such as tax reduction. Another question had to do with the level of detail included in budget line‑items; Johnson pointed out that this allowed for better expense tracking, and excluding those details could jeopardize state reimbursements.
Following the adjournment, board Chair Michael Jenkins commented, "It's been an interesting year. There were a lot of questions we had to get answered, but we finally got it done.