With Wiscasset's valuation hiking at a higher rate than the state average is hiking, the town's schools stand to get less state aid, the school department's business manager, Cathy Coffey, told the school committee July 3. "And then if you look further down the road, if that trend continues ... we would be looking at being a minimum receiver, which means we'd just get a little bit of state money (and that would be) for special ed. And basically education would be almost 100% funded by the town."

Coffey wanted the committee aware in case it considers a bigger tap of the fund balance as part of shrinking the local ask in the 2025-26 school budget. The committee was reviewing possible budget changes to offer voters after the first offer lost at the polls June 10. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kim Andersson said the draft so far figures in a $600,000 fund balance tap like in the first offer and recent years' budgets. 

Coffey, over the phone to the meeting in the Wiscasset Middle High School library, advised caution with the fund balance. "We really want to make sure we hang onto fund balance so we don't have a double whammy (where) we don't have that fund balance to fall back on" amid a loss in state aid, she explained.

Chair Tracy Whitney asked: "So ... because of this data your recommendation is?"

"Not to take more than the $600,000 ...," Coffey answered. She and Andersson recommended in future budget years moving away from reliance on the fund balance to offset taxes.

Also in the July 3 session, Andersson said possible budget changes she was presenting so far would change the 2025-26 hike in the local ask by more than $90,000, from the first budget offer’s 3.06%, to 2.18%. Among those changes would be budgeting health insurance lower and liability insurance higher; and water and sewer, electricity and oil all lower. According to the discussion, the smaller budgets should still work within the cost centers and some items have reserve funds.

"We should keep some ... little bit of a buffer ... everything like electricity and fuel and stuff, we never know can spike through the roof because of the world that we live in," Vice Chair Jonathan Barnes said. 

Members mulled how to cut the budget offer by as much as $150,000, which would be about $60,000 more in cuts than Andersson presented. With Andersson awaiting more information from her administrative team, the committee nixed budget talks for July 7 and planned to resume them in the committee's regular monthly meeting July 8. Andersson on July 7 sent out a revised timeline showing the budget discussion and possible adoption July 8; if needed, a July 9 session; and July 10, turning in the special town meeting warrant to the town manager; selectmen taking up the warrant July 15; the town clerk posting the warrant July 16; the special town meeting at 6 p.m. July 23, location to be decided; then a budget validation referendum "within 45 days of July 23. This is the necessary 'yes or no' vote on the budget that is step two of the ... two-step budget process," the document read.