Tax hikes aim to ease school budget woes

The MSAD 19 Board of Directors in Lubec, at a meeting on May 13, voted to approve and send to town meeting voters a budget that would reduce spending by over 7%, but increase the amount to be raised by local taxes for the school budget by nearly 11% compared to the current year. Much of the increase in taxes resulted from a reduction in state aid of almost $300,000, along with a doubling of the cost of heating oil and smaller increases in wages and health insurance costs. The school board also eliminated several positions and reduced several others, along with small cuts to line items throughout the budget. The budget approved by the board is $165,000 less than a budget presented for public comment two weeks before.

The proposed budget will now go through a two-step procedure for approval by voters, mandated by the state's new school consolidation law. On June 5, there will be a public meeting for taxpayers, where the budget will be presented and discussed, and each of the 11 cost centers will be voted on. Five days later, assuming a budget is approved at the June 5 meeting, a referendum, by secret ballot, will be held as part of the June 10 primary election to approve or deny the total budget, as voted on at the June 5 meeting. If voters do not approve the total budget figure at the referendum, the entire process would have to start again, with the school board developing and approving a new budget, then having a public meeting and vote, followed by a referendum.

Besides the reduction in state aid, the main cost increase in the budget was a doubling of the line for heating oil, from $70,000 in the current budget to $140,000 in the 2008-2009 budget. The board decided to combine the fifth- and sixth-grade classes for next year, with one teacher and an educational technician, and not replace this year's sixth-grade teacher, who is resigning. Also to be eliminated is the position of secretary to the superintendent. Several other positions, both professional and staff, were reduced or changed to stipend positions, including the director of special education. Small increases went to most teachers and ed techs, along with a 2% cost of living raise for the superintendent and a 25% raise for the school principal. When questioned at the meeting about the principal's raise, Superintendent Michael Buckley responded, "I proposed a raise for the building principal because he has more responsibilities next year and he deserves it."

At the meeting, the superintendent assured questioners that detailed information would be available well before the June 5 public meeting, probably within a week.

One example of the cost increases in basic supplies for the schools was in the bid opening for bakery products. Although not a huge cost, compared with fuel or salaries, many in attendance were shocked when the only bid showed costs of over $2 for sandwich bread, hot dog and hamburger rolls. Action on the tender for heating oil was tabled when the two bidders used different and incompatible methods of determining the offered price. One, R.H. Foster, offered oil at $0.11 over the rack price on the day of delivery, while Eastern Plumbing offered a discount of $0.189 from the day's cash price.