Sheepscot Valley RSU Budget, Wiscasset Newspaper, July 23, 2009

Sheepscot Valley RSU Budget of $26.6 million approved at town meeting

By CHARLOTTE BOYNTON

Staff Reporter

The voters from the eight towns in the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit (RSU) will go to the polls on Tuesday, July 28 to vote on the 2009-2010 fiscal year’s budget. The budget of $26.6 million was adopted at the Regional School Unit budget meeting Saturday July 18, at the Windsor Elementary School.

This will be the second time the voters of Alna, Chelsea, Palermo, Somerville, Westport Island, Whitefield, Windsor, and Wiscasset have voted on the 2009-2010 budget. The first budget of $25.8 million was rejected by the voters on June 9.

The budget meeting on Saturday lasted for about four and half hours, two hours less than the June 2, budget meeting in Whitefield. Perhaps one of the reasons the meeting didn’t last as long is because before the first article was decided, a motion was made to limit questions to three with a maximum of three minutes per speaker. The motion passed with an overwhelming response.

The meeting began at 10 a.m. with an hour presentation from RSU Superintendent Greg Potter in support of the budget that is being recommended, and explaining the cuts the RSU board had made since their first proposal of $27.72 million which is a decrease of just over $1 million.

The RSU board corrected the tuition revenue paid from Alna and Westport Island to Wiscasset in 2008-2009, by separating the tuitions paid by the two towns in a separate column for non-Wiscasset schools. The RSU board had taken Wiscasset’s 2008-2009 budget which included the tuition paid by the two towns, as well as included Westport and Alna school budgets.

The board also corrected a spreadsheet error of $232,000 counted twice in the June 2 proposed budget.

Other savings being recommended by the RSU board include: merging the curriculum, coordinator and assistant superintendent positions into one employee; decreasing cost at the Central Office; adjusting property insurance to reflect consolidation savings; correction salaries and benefits; reducing a proposed full-time guidance position back to a part-time; decreasing stipends, and cutting a request for a bus aid; recalculating high school tuition using updated student numbers, and deferring technology hardware purchases.

Potter told the voters in 2008 the state provided about $12.9 million as subsidy to the eight towns in the RSU. However because of the increased state’s valuations of the towns, and decreasing school population the state’s subsidy will be just over $11.5 million.

In Wiscasset this will mean over $450,000 in school costs that will be shifted from the state to the local taxpayers, this will mean $1.07 more per $1,000 in the mill rate just for the decrease in state subsidy, according to information given to the voters at the meeting. On Westport Island it will be about a $.45 increase in a $1000 valuation.

Richard Grondin of Wiscasset and others asked the RSU board what the actual costs were in last year’s fiscal year’s budget, ending in June. The board was not able to provide that information to the voters.

According to Dennis Dunbar of Westport Island, "The only clue provided is what was actually spent last year was the amount that was conservatively estimated carryover to be left unspent (the carryover) from last year, which was reported to be $1.4 million."

"This means a maximum of $24.4 million was spent last year, and likely less." Dunbar said in a telephone interview Monday.

"For this year the request was $26.6 million or $2.1 million more that what we just spent. With declining enrollment, lower administration costs and other savings thru consolidation, it just doesn’t make sense to be increasing the authorization by 8.72 percent over last year’s spending," he said.

Another issue pointed out by Dunbar is the fact that the budget presented had been credited with over $400,000 in federal stimulus money, which is temporary. Without these funds, the real local taxpayer obligation would have been about 21 percent higher than last year.

"Taxpayers just can’t afford the increases requested by the RSU," he said.

Donald Barrett, of Palermo asked what the increases would be for the next two years, Potter told him that projected had been completed.

Barrett made himself very clear to the voters he was not happy with the school consolidation plan. "We should vote zero for this whole budget," he said, "We should send a message to the state that we are not going to let them cram this down our throats."

The RSU board summary, by the for 11 cost centers, for the 2009-2010 budget which was approved included a summary of the 2008-2009 combined totals for the towns, the 2009-2010 proposed combined budgets and the difference between them from last year and the coming year rounded off:

Article 1 Regular Instruction, 2008-2009 $12.5 million; 2009-2010 proposed $12.9; difference an increase of $46,500.

Article 2 Special Education, 2008-2009 $4.5 million; 2009-2010 proposed $4.8 million; difference an increase of $309,500.

Article 3 Career and Technical Education, 2008-2009 $132,600; 2009-2010 proposed $191,000; difference and increase of $58,000.

Article 4 Other Instruction. 2008-2009 $369,900; 2009-2010 proposed $370,100; difference an increase of 200.

Article 5 Student and Staff Support, 2008-2009 $1.4 million; 2009-2010 proposed $1.5 million; difference an increase of $52,000

Article 6 System Administration, 2008-2009 $1 million; 2009-2010 proposed $845,700; difference a decrease of $207,000.

Article 7 School Administration, 2008-2009 $1.22 million; 2009-2010 proposed $1.28 million, difference an increase of $54,000.

Article 8 Transportation and Buses 2008-2009 $1.3 million; 2009-2010 proposed $1.5 million; difference an $117,600 increase.

Article 9 Facilities Maintenance. 2008-2009 $2.3 million; 2009-2010 proposed $2.3 million; difference a decrease of $243,500.

Article 10 Debt Service and other commitments 2008-2009 $202,000, 2009-2010 proposed $743,700; difference and increase of $39,000.

Article 11 All other expenditures including school lunch, 2008-2009 $201,300; 2009-2010 proposed $223.500; difference a $22,200 increase.

According to the information provided by the RSU board, the proposed local contribution before any carryover is applied, is over a 17 percent increase from the 2008-2009 year for each of the eight towns.

However, for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, after the carryover from each town is applied to local contributions, it is less. Alna’s 2009-2010 contribution after carryover is 11.51 percent greater than 2008-2009 for an estimated local contribution of $889,000; Westport Island 2009-2010 contribution after carryover is 3.88 percent greater than 2008-2009 for an estimated local contribution of $1.1 million; and Wiscasset’s 2009-2010 contribution is 15.88 percent higher than 2008-2009, with a local contribution of $5.2 million.

When the voters go to the polls on Tuesday, July 28, they will have one question to answer, either yes or no. "Do you favor approving the Regional School Unit No.12 budget for the upcoming school year that was adopted at the latest regional School Unit budget meeting?"

A "yes" vote will mean the RSU will have an approved budget for the 2009-2010 school year of $26.6 million.

A "no" vote will mean the RSU will need to present a new budget, which will required and District Regional budget meeting, and another referendum vote for a new budget.