Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit's proposed next budget suffered a narrow defeat at the polls June 28. The total, eight-town count was 409 votes for the budget and 468 against it, according to counts the district received.

The loss came despite approval in Wiscasset and Westport Island, two towns currently moving toward possible withdrawal from the district: Wiscasset favored the budget, 97-76; Westport Island, by an even wider margin, 167-61. It's the district-wide vote that counts, not town by town.

The unit's superintendent Howard Tuttle said the day's low voter turnout surprised him. He declined to speculate whether a bigger one would have changed the outcome.

The next attempt at a budget was expected to begin at a finance  committee meeting Tuesday, July 2, Tuttle said. That meeting was set for 5:30 p.m. at Somerville Elementary School.

If the unit's full board does not approve a proposal at its next meeting, July 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Palermo Consolidated School, a special board meeting may have to be called in order to meet state time frames for budget votes, Tuttle said.

The next proposal may require less tax money, because the district is now expected to get more state aid than anticipated when the failed budget was drafted, Tuttle said.

While voters nixed the budget, their vote on another ballot item supported keeping the existing process for passing one. That consists of a regional meeting where residents can hike or shrink amounts for 11 different parts of the budget, followed by the up or down referendum vote on the whole package.

According to results the district received, voters favored keeping the process for another three years with 554 yes votes to 313 no votes.

The Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit serves Wiscasset, Westport Island, Alna, Chelsea, Whitefield, Windsor, Palermo and Somerville.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com