Residents at the School Administrative District 58 districtwide budget meeting gave the first round of approval Tuesday to a proposed $9.19 million budget for the 2016-2017 school year.
The proposed $9,190,427 budget unanimously accepted by the 53 residents who attended a budget meeting will go to a referendum for final approval in the district’s four towns on June 14.
The budget, presented to residents in a 16-article warrant, passed Tuesday without discussion in a 40-minute meeting.
“I’m impressed no one was arguing,” Mt. Abram High School teacher and Kingfield resident Alice Yates said. She added that in her 32 years of attending SAD 58 budget meetings, this was the shortest meeting she could recall.
Superintendent Susan Pratt attributeed the unanimous acceptance to the leanness of the proposed budget.
“I’m not going to tell you this is a bare-bones budget, … but this is a budget that we feel we can use as a base line budget going forward,” Pratt said during an opening presentation at the budget meeting.
The proposed budget is down 2.3 percent from the current budget, for a total decrease of $215,943.
With the board of directors going through the budget line by line making cuts and an increase in state funding of $159,152, the local contributions from each of the district’s towns show an across the board decrease in the $9.19 million budget.
If the budget is approved June 14, Avon’s assessment will decrease 1 percent, to a total contribution of $421,410; Kingfield’s assessment will decrease 2.35 percent, to a total contribution of $1,404,401; Strong’s assessment will decrease 1.37 percent, to a total contribution of $873,121; and Phillips’ assessment will decrease 0.2 percent, to a total contribution of $844,233.
Voters in the district’s four towns will go to the polls June 14 for a final say on the proposal.
Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Avon residents can vote at the Avon Municipal Building, Kingfield residents can vote at Webster Hall, Phillips residents can vote at the Phillips Town Office and Strong residents can vote at the Forster Memorial Building.
Lauren Abbate — 861-9252
Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate
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