Voters in Augusta approved the $28.4 million school budget Tuesday by a 319-182 margin, with the total number of votes equaling less than 4 percent of the city’s registered voters.

The budget is up 2.7 percent from the current year and will require about $800,000 more in property taxes.

The school board approved the school budget in March, and councilors approved it as part of their approval of the overall $54.9 million city and school budget May 28. Councilors, in past years, have often directed the school board to make further cuts, but councilors, this year, did not do that.

The combined budget is expected to increase property taxes by 3.9 percent.

The school budget uses about $2 million from the schools’ fund balance account, which is generally made up of funds unspent in previous years. Officials warned, however, using that much of the fund means that money won’t be available in future years to help offset the impact on taxpayers.

Augusta officials anticipated the city’s schools will get about $1 million less in state funding than they expected when they first put the budget together.

The total budget includes $583,000 for adult education, $2.4 million for the middle school level, $8.9 million for elementary schools, $6 million for Cony High School, $2.3 million for Capital Area Technical Center, $4.6 million for system-wide services and $2.3 million in debt payments.

RSU 2 — Monmouth, Richmond, Farmingdale, Hallowell and Dresden

The $25.9 million proposed budget appeared to be heading toward passage Tuesday night. With all municipalities but Dresden reporting, 696 people had voted to approve the budget and 328 voted against it.

The budget is up approximately 2 percent, or $500,000, over the current year and would raise taxes by roughly 4 percent in each community.

The increase was driven by $550,000 more in required raises for employees; $200,000 more for medical treatment outlined in individualized education programs for certain special education students under Medicaid, the federal health care program for the poor; and $115,000 more for capital improvements. It also would move five teachers from part-time to full-time status and add $50,000 in spending on sports and other activities.

RSU 11 — Gardiner, Pittston, Randolph and West Gardiner

Voters Tuesday approved the $22.8 million budget by a 274-177 margin. West Gardiner, where residents voted 66-64 to reject the budget, was the only town to vote against it.

The budget, approved by residents at the regional district budget meeting May 26, is less than half a percent higher, or $95,000, than what voters approved last year when not including a grant for energy efficiency upgrades.

But an expected $500,000 drop in state aid contributed to proposed increases of around 5 percent in each community, leading to expected tax increases of between $48 and $60 for $100,000 of assessed value in the communities based on current tax rates.

RSU 12 — Chelsea, Whitefield, Windsor, Palermo, Somerville, Alna and Westport Island

Voters in the district’s seven towns voted Tuesday on a proposed $20.27 million budget, which is about 3 percent higher than the budget approved last year. Residents had adopted the proposed budget at the May 19 regional budget meeting. Results were not available Tuesday night.

If approved, some of the towns will see their shares increase more dramatically because a cost-sharing formula approved in 2012 is still being phased in. Somerville will see its contribution increase by 11.5 percent if the proposed budget is approved, Windsor’s share will increase by 11.1 percent and Palermo’s share will increase by 8.4 percent. Whitefield and Chelsea will both see their shares increase by around 3 percent, Alna’s share will drop by less than 1 percent and Westport Island’s share will drop by around 14 percent.

RSU 38 — Manchester, Mt. Vernon, Readfield and Wayne

Voters were asked Tuesday to ratify a nearly $16 million budget for the upcoming school year, adopted May 13 at a regional meeting. With Manchester and Readfield reporting, the vote to approve the budget was leading 549-311.

The total budget represents a 2.27 percent increase, or about $360,000, over this year’s budget.

WINTHROP

Residents voted 311-99 Tuesday to approve the $10.8 million school budget, about $600,000 higher than the current one. But it will translate into just a $59,000 increase in property taxes thanks to an additional $400,000 the schools will receive from the state due in large part to increased enrollments.

The budget includes spending on key programs, including gifted and talented for kindergarten through 12th grade and foreign language at the elementary and middle schools.

WATERVILLE — City residents decided overwhelmingly Tuesday to keep the pay-as-you-throw trash collection and single-stream recycling program in a 1,338-688 vote.

A steady stream of voters turned out at the polls Tuesday to decide whether to keep or toss the program.

“It’s the best thing for our city,” City Councilor Dana Bushee, D-Ward 6, said late Tuesday at the polls. “It’s the best thing for our residents. I’m ecstatic.”

Residents interviewed Tuesday as they left the polling place at the American Legion hall on College Avenue were split on the program, in which residents pay for garbage bags required by the city, but also includes curbside recycling.

“I just think it’s a pain in the butt,” voter Lila Hallowell said. “Let them go up on taxes. I don’t care. It’s not a money thing.”

Allen McCausland, 35, also voted to repeal.

“I just feel like it’s an added tax that we don’t really need,” he said.

Meanwhile, Michelle Holmes, 60, said she likes pay-as-you-throw.

“The reason why I like it is my mother lives in Camden, Maine, and they have to pay for trash bags and they have no curbside pickup,” Holmes said. “They do have recycling, and their taxes are a lot more than ours. I feel like I’ve got the best of all the worlds.”

About 1,200 of 11,447 registered city voters had cast ballots by 4:45 p.m., according to election warden Roland Hallee. “It exceeded our expectations,” he said. In the end, 2,026 voters cast ballots.

Residents voting yes wanted to repeal the pay-as-you-throw program, launched in September, and single-stream recycling, which started in July.

City officials say the city has reduced the trash it picks up by about 55 percent since the programs started. They had expected to reduce it by only 40 or 45 percent.

As part of the program, residents must buy designated trash bags for curbside pickup. The city picks up the bags at the curb and takes them to the Oakland transfer station to be hauled to Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. in Orrington, where it is burned.

City Manager Michael Roy said that the city’s contract with PERC expires in 2018 when the city’s fee to dispose of waste is expected to increase from $60 a ton to about $120. He said the city is saving about $430,000 by using pay-as-you throw. Had voters repealed it, officials would have had to find $430,000 in the municipal budget to make up for that loss.

Meanwhile, residents toss all of their recyclables into one bin to be picked up every other week by Sullivan’s Waste Disposal, of Thorndike. The city pays Sullivan’s $72,000 a year for that service. The recyclables are taken to Ecomaine, in Portland, where they are sorted and sent to market.

Residents pay $10 for a roll of eight 15-gallon bags or $10 for a roll of five 30-gallon bags. The bags are supplied to retailers by WasteZero, of Portland, which gets 32 cents for each $2 bag sold and 22 cents for each $1.25 bag. The city gets $1.68 for each $2 bag and $1.03 for each $1.25 bag. Retailers get no cut of the profits. The city has garnered $215,000 on bag sale revenue in the first eight months of the program.

City officials said the idea behind the trash and recycling program is to reduce the waste stream. Also, they said, it forces people to be conscious about what they throw away.

The City Council last year voted 5-2 to approve a proposed $37.2 million municipal and school budget for 2014-15 that included pay-as-you-throw and recycling, with the stipulation that voters be given the opportunity to decide whether to repeal it this year. Council Chairman Fred Stubbert, D-Ward 1, and Karen Rancourt-Thomas, D-Ward 7, voted against that budget, saying residents should have been able to decide the issue.

A lot of residents were angry that councilors didn’t allow residents the opportunity to vote on pay-as-you-throw before it was implemented. They said that while they recycle anyway or like recycling, they don’t like having to buy special garbage bags.

Many of those people hired private haulers to take their trash. At least one company, Gregory’s Disposal, of Fairfield, has picked up about 300 residential customers in Waterville, according to owner Gregory Rabe.

Former City Clerk Arlene Strahan was working at the polls Tuesday.

“It’s a very good turnout for a June election,” she said.

Some voters, including Wanda L’Heureux, 58, said they were afraid that if pay-as-you-throw were repealed, the recycling program also would go away, and they want to keep recycling. City officials had said, however, that the city could decide to re-institute the recycling program if pay-as-you-throw were repealed, as long as residents wanted the city to pay for that recycling. Shredding-on-Site on Armory Road also takes recyclables.

“I voted no because I want to keep the recycling, and one goes with the other, because if we chuck it, there goes the recycling,” L’Heureux said. “It is responsible to recycle.”

Former city councilor Charlie Kellenberger, 64, and his wife, Jackie, 66, who are apartment building owners, said they voted to repeal it.

Jackie Kellenberger said so many people are dumping trash into their apartment trash receptacles that they must have the haulers come twice a week instead of the usual once.

“I’m ticked off, I’ll tell you,” she said. “We have seven dumpsters. Everyone in the world that does not want to buy a purple bag is using them.”

Charlie Kellenberger said, “I personally believe that the real truth isn’t told about recycling — that we can’t have recycling without pay-as-you-throw. We used to. The city of Waterville did recycle, and the only reason we stopped recycling was because of the town manager of Winslow, who decided to sell the recycling center to Ken-A-Set, and Waterville had to go along.”

He served on the Waterville-Winslow Solid Waste Committee many years ago when the city and Winslow owned the recycling site on Industrial Road that later was bought by Ken-A-Set.

“It was a joint venture between Waterville and Winslow,” he said. “Obviously, back then we separated our recyclables. The city picked them up every week. Ken-A-Set managed the Industrial Road site. Waterville did recycle, and it worked.”

Jeff Jolin, 60, also said he voted to repeal.

“I pay my taxes. Why should I have to pay for bags?” he asked. “I have two dogs. They eat all the table scraps. I recycle everything and take paper trash to camp to burn.”

John Black, 71, said the required bags are not very strong, and they rip when people pick them up. He also said residents should have had a chance to vote on the program last year before it was put in place.

“I just wasn’t happy with the way it was implemented,” he said.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

FARMINGTON — Regional School Unit 9’s $32.25 million budget was rejected soundly by voters Tuesday night, 741-1045, amid what Superintendent Thomas Ward called a no-win situation.

Of the 10 communities voting on the 3.9 percent increase — $1.2 million more than the current budget — only Farmington, voting 262-234; Weld, 16-11; and Starks, 31-6, approved it.

Opposing the budget were Wilton, 260-286; Chesterville, 27-108; New Sharon, 54-215; New Vineyard, 12-69; Industry, 39-48; Temple, 20-42 and Vienna, 20-26.

“I want to emphasize that it is our job to put forth a budget that meets the needs of our children,” Ward said in a prepared statement. “The school district was put in a ‘no win’ situation when the state increased the educational mill rate to towns from 8.1 percent to 8.47 percent. This is the amount the towns have to raise to receive their state allocation. That amount of increase on our towns was not realistic.”

He said that the good news is that when the state budget is passed, “we will all know how much additional money will be added to General Purpose Aid to Education to reduce the educational mill rate to our towns.”

He urged residents to emphasize to their representatives “how important it is that the educational mill rate be reduced by keeping the additional money for General Purpose Aid in the proposed state budget.”

Lorna Nichols, Travis Pond and Milton Sinclair, members of the New Sharon Board of Selectmen, put out a statement calling for a “no” vote before the referendum.

The release said, “With continued reductions in state funding, RSU 9’s budget increase of $1.2 million puts New Sharon’s increase to you, our taxpayers, at $171,291 more than 2014 — potentially bringing the current mil rate of 15.2 to 18.2 (or higher), which equates to $300 more per $100,000 of property valuation.”

It said that while board members strongly support education, “the state Legislature has discussed adding between $25 million and $50 million into General Purpose Aid for education as part of the budget process, which would help to reduce the burden locally, (but) there is no guarantee that will happen — and in the end, the increase for all 10 district towns ultimately falls upon local taxpayers.”

Douglas McIntire — 861-9252

dmcintire@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @CD_McIntire

Voters in Windsor on Tuesday rejected a request to borrow $350,000 to buy a new firetruck.

The vote was 61 yes, 166 no.

Fire Department members had said the truck was needed to replace a 28-year-old truck that is due for replacement because of its age and deteriorating condition.

In the Regional School Unit 12 budget referendum, Windsor voters supported the budget 142-86. The $20.27 million budget for schools in Chelsea, Whitefield, Windsor, Palermo, Somerville, Alna and Westport Island, is about 3 percent greater than the budget approved last year.

Paul Austin, who works in the Brunswick School Department, has been named Regional School Unit 3 superintendent, the district announced Wednesday.

Austin, who is the director of student services in Brunswick, succeeds Heather Perry, who is becoming superintendent in the Gorham School District, according to a news release from the district. RSU 3 includes Brooks, Freedom, Jackson, Knox, Liberty, Monroe, Montville, Thorndike, Troy, Unity and Waldo.

Austin, who begins July 1, was elected Monday at a school board meeting.

In addition to working the past nine years in Brunswick, he also was assistant superintendent in Damariscotta-based School Union 74, which is now part of Alternative Organizational Structure 93.

He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maine at Farmington, a master’s degree in school psychology from the University of Southern Maine and a certificate of advanced study in educational leadership from the University of Maine. He is also set to complete a doctoral program in public policy and educational leadership through the Muskie Center at the University of Southern Maine this fall, according to the release.

Austin has grown children and lives with his wife, Lisa, in Nobleboro.

A 15-member search committee led by RSU 3 Board Chairman Myrick Cross carried out the search for a new superintendent. Austin was selected from among 10 applicants, four of whom were interviewed.

“We feel as though this process, although long, was extremely thorough and well worth the wait,” Cross said in the release. “We thank those that volunteered during this process for their service to the district. We are confident in his leadership and excited for the future of RSU 3.”

Voters in Regional School Unit 12 approved the district’s $20.27 million budget in a referendum vote Tuesday.

Of the district’s seven towns, a majority of voters rejected the proposed budget only in Somerville. The unofficial districtwide vote tally was 415-256.

The budget for the Somerville-based school district is about 3 percent greater, or around $600,000, than the budget approved last year. In some towns the shares will increase more dramatically because a cost-sharing formula approved in 2012 is still being phased in.

As a result of the budget and the cost-sharing formula, Somerville’s contribution will increase by 11.5 percent, Windsor’s share will increase by 11.1 percent and Palermo’s share will increase by 8.4 percent. Whitefield’s and Chelsea’s will increase by around 3 percent, Alna’s share will drop by less than 1 percent and Westport Island’s share will drop by around 14 percent.

The budget had been approved at the regional budget meeting May 19, attended by a little more than 60 residents, but not before several attempts at the meeting to lower the budget by around $600,000.

Jeffrey Adams will fill Tom Saviello’s selectman’s seat following election results Tuesday night.

Despite losing power at the Wilton Town Office, counters plodded on with both the selectman vote and the Regional School Unit 9 budget vote. The $32.25 million RSU 9 budget failed in town, 260-286, as well as in the district, which has 10 towns.

Adams won the selectman’s seat with 239 votes, beating Irving Faunce, who trailed with 147; Gerald Whitney, with 108; and Joseph Kinsey, with 35 votes.

Adams, Kinsey and Whitney spent much of the day in front of the Town Office, shaking hands in the drizzly weather and getting a little face time before people cast their vote.

Lee Dunn won the one-year post of Mount Vernon road commissioner on Tuesday. He received 133 votes to Brett Roberts’ 108 votes. The two men were vying for the job held by Jeff Kent, who is retiring.

In other election results, Michele Pino won a three-year term representing Mount Vernon on the Regional School Unit 38 School Committee. She was a write-in candidate. No one had filed nominating petitions to be on the ballot.

Town Clerk Rachel Meader said Pino also won a three-year and a one-year seat on the elementary school advisory board. She said Pino would have to decline one of the advisory committee positions.

Voters soundly defeated the School Administrative District 58 budget Tuesday after it was cut from $9.4 million to about $256,000 at a meeting two weeks ago.

The budget now goes back to the SAD 58 board, who will have to come up with a new budget for a June 22 vote.

School officials had said that if the budget passes, the board will declare it unconstitutional. The district includes Phillips, Strong, Avon and Kingfield. Aven was the only one of the four towns that voted to approved the budget.

Voting broke down by town as follows: Avon 5 no, 32 yes; Kingfield 85 no, 11 yes; Strong 111 no, 30 yes; Phillips 61 no, 9 yes, for a total of 262 no and 82 yes.

On May 28, a longstanding rift between the school board and the Mount Abram Teacher’s Association resulted in a line-by-line defunding of most of the operating budget, including regular instruction and special education.

Teachers, working for as many as three years without a contract, refused to allow a vote on the $9.4 million proposed by the school board and issued a protest vote, effectively defunding education in the district.

That vote forced the district to go ahead with a voter referendum on the newly proposed budget of $256,000 before anything else could be done to amend the budget.

The SAD 58 website posted a letter this week urging residents to vote no, saying, “This is the appropriate, reasonable and responsible vote regarding the current situation.”

There was speculation that lack of a viable budget before the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1 would cause the budget to revert to last year’s. The letter said the district’s legal counsel says that won’t happen.

The letter also said that, “If another inadequate budget is approved at the second budget meeting, or if enough voters are not present at the special budget meeting, then the operating budget becomes the ‘last budget approved at a budget meeting that has been submitted to BVR.'” In other words, whatever budget is approved at the June 22 budget meeting would become the operating budget as of July 1.

Lois Barker of Strong was casting her vote in favor of compromise Tuesday.

“I think we ought to vote it down so we can start over,” she said at the polls. “You can’t run a school on what they’re proposing.”

Results incomplete in several locations

Voters in many local cities and towns headed to the polls Tuesday to decide a variety of issues.

While no statewide issues were on the ballot, voters in various towns decided whether to approve town warrant items about firetrucks, legal fees, a charter commission and alcohol consumption.

In some towns, there were contested races for local boards or road commissioner.

AUGUSTA

City voters picked a new city councilor and a new school board member.

The races for both seats were uncontested.

Dan Emery, a former city councilor, was the only candidate for an at-large position on the council made vacant when David Rollins, who previously held that at-large seat, was elected mayor. Emery was elected to the position with 454 votes.

Edward Hastings was the only candidate for an at-large position on the school board, a position vacated when Kimberly Martin, who held the post before, was elected chairwoman of the school board. Hastings was elected with 432 votes.

There were a total of 501 voters, which represents about 4 percent of the city’s registered voters, according to officials.

FARMINGDALE

In a race for a seat on the Board of Selectmen, Wayne Kilgore, who has served on the Planning Board since 2013, defeated Doug Ebert, a former selectman, by a vote of 154-113.

Kilgore, 62, served for the last two years on the Planning Board and said several people encouraged him to run for selectman this year. Kilgore is a warranty analyst for Milton CAT in Scarborough and manages several commercial properties in the Augusta area for his father.

Ebert, 42, service manager at Charlie’s Motor Mall in Augusta and a captain in the town’s volunteer Fire Department, served on the board from 2011 to 2014, when he lost a re-election bid to Nancy Frost, 163-119.

Farmingdale’s Town Meeting, when residents will vote on the town’s budget, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in the Hall-Dale High School theater.

FAYETTE

Jon Beekman was running unopposed for re-election to a three-year seat on the Board of Selectmen. Diane Polky, current vice chairwoman, and Rachael Holland were seeking the two three-year seats on the School Board. No candidate was listed on the ballot for a one-year seat to finish out Jennifer Bero’s term.

Results were unavailable Tuesday evening.

HALLOWELL

Voters agreed to form a commission to review Hallowell’s charter, a decision prompted last year as councilors considered the employee appointment process outlined in the guiding document. The proposal passed by a vote of 155-33.

The mayor and the city manager now split the role of appointing city officials somewhat awkwardly. For example, the mayor picks the city clerk and the fire chief, while the manager picks the police chief and city attorney, with all appointments ratified by councilors. City Manager Michael Starn has called that “archaic.”

Voters on Tuesday decided to pick one commission member from each of Hallowell’s five wards in the November election, while councilors get to select three members.

LITCHFIELD

There were no local contested races.

Voters rejected the Regional School Unit 4 budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year by a vote of 163-94. The proposed budget was up $705,000 to nearly $19 million. Litchfield’s share of that budget would be $3.6 million, or $451,000 more than this year.

MANCHESTER

All positions were uncontested.

Dawn Kliphan, with 144 votes, and Jeremy Pare, with 187, each earned a spot on the Board of Selectmen; Pia Holmes, 143 votes, and Alexander Wright, 65, each earned one of two spots representing Manchester on the Regional School Unit 38 School Board; and Warren Foster, 162 votes, and James Nevins, 173, were each elected to Sanitary District Trustee positions.

There were no declared candidates for two available spots on the Manchester Elementary School Advisory Committee.

MONMOUTH

Voters chose a new selectman and agreed to purchase two firetrucks.

Incumbent Harold Jones III was unseated by Sandra Schiller for a seat on the Board of Selectmen. Schiller tallied 203 votes to Jones’ 184.

Edmund Zuis, who got 331 votes, and Kristin Sanborn, who got 362, were elected to the Regional School Unit 2 board of directors and the Cumston Library Trustees, respectively, in uncontested races.

Voters adopted all 28 articles during the referendum-style Town Meeting, which included a proposal to enter into lease-purchase agreements for two firetrucks. The move will allow the department to pull three aging trucks out of service, including a 1988 pumper, a 2001 pumper and a 2008 heavy rescue truck.

Voters also agreed to borrow $131,000 toward creating a sidewalk on Academy Road from Main Street to the Henry Cottrell School. The money will lock in a $525,000 Department of Transportation grant.

Overall spending in the 2015-16 fiscal year municipal budget is down $39,000 from this year. Town Manager Curtis Lunt has said revenue from the state is expected to increase by $33,000. Thus the total to be raised by property taxes to support the municipal budget, $1.88 million, is down more than $50,000 from this year.

MOUNT VERNON

Clyde Dyar was running for reelection to a three-year seat on the Select Board, on which he is currently chairman. Patricia Jackson and Michael Apolito, who were both filling vacancies, were running for election.

Results were unavailable Tuesday evening.

Jackson was seeking election to a three-year seat and Apolito a two-year seat. A one-year seat is available, but no candidates have come forward.

Jeff Kent is retiring as road commissioner, and Lee Dunn and Brett Roberts were seeking the one-year position.

Rachel Meader ran unopposed for re-election as town clerk and tax collector, and Martha Gross sought re-election as treasurer, all one-year terms.

RICHMOND

Local elections, including races for two selectmen’s seats and one school board position, were uncontested on Tuesday’s ballot.

Gary Poulin and O’Neil LaPlante were the only candidates for two available spots as selectmen.

Russell Hughes was the only candidate seeking to represent Richmond on the Regional School Unit 2 school board on a two-year term.

Jay Brown was the only candidate seeking to represent Richmond on the Regional School Unit 2 school board on a three-year term.

There are were uncontested elections for two seats on the Richmond Utilities District and two positions on the Budget Committee.

Results were unavailable Tuesday evening.

WAYNE

Voters were set to decide whether to spend $15,000 for legal fees associated with “quieting the title” of a 118-acre parcel of land on Wilson Pond that the town acquired through nonpayment of taxes.

Two articles asked residents if they want to allow the sale of alcohol for consumption on premises. One article allowed the practice Monday through Saturday and the second allowed sales on Sunday.

Results were unavailable Tuesday evening.

WINDSOR

Voters were deciding whether to borrow $350,000 to buy a new firetruck in a secret ballot vote.

Results were unavailable Tuesday evening.

Windsor Volunteer Fire Department officials have proposed purchasing a new pumper truck with a six-person cab to replace a 28-year-old truck they said is due for replacement because of its age and deteriorating condition.

The truck could cost up to $410,000. The purchase, if approved, would be funded by the $350,000 in requested borrowing, $50,000 from a fire safety capital reserve fund, and $10,000 from the fire department’s fundraising account.

Voters also were set to elect municipal and school officials, though all races were uncontested.

Daniel Gordon and Ray Bates were running for two selectmen’s seats.

There were five positions up for election on the Budget Committee with only one declared candidate, Christopher Haiss, for any of the positions, leaving the rest to potentially be filled by write-ins.

Gerry Nault was the only candidate to represent Windsor on the Regional School Unit 12 committee.

SKOWHEGAN — Incumbent Selectwoman Darla Pickett was re-elected to the Skowhegan Board of Selectmen in voting Tuesday, as was high school physical education teacher and Planning Board Chairman Soren Siren.

There were five candidates running for two seats on the Board of Selectmen.

Pickett, with 404 votes, was challenged by Lake George Park manager Derek Ellis, with 263 votes; developer Christopher Kruse, with 314 votes; Siren, with 366 votes; and real estate broker and assessors Chairman Ronald Blaisdell, 262 votes.

The term of office is three years. Pickett and Siren will join Betty Austin, Donald Skillings and Paul York on the board.

Among the key issues noted by all five candidates is the future of the Sappi Fine Paper North America mill and its valuation for taxes.

The Skowhegan Board of Assessors in April denied a request from Sappi to cut the property tax value of its paper mill on U.S. Route 201 by more than $137 million, which would have resulted in the loss of $2.3 million in revenue for the town. The paper mill is assessed for taxation by the town at $463,630,900. The company says the property should be taxed based on a value of $326,343,426.

The difference — the amount by which the company says the valuation needs to be cut — is $137,287,474.

In voting for road commissioner, 23-year incumbent Greg Dore was re-elected with 483 votes. Dore, of East Madison, faced opposition from two challengers, Donald Kinney Sr. (381 votes) and former Highway Department employee Paul Murray (60 votes) for a three-year term.

Dore, 60, said the experience of two-plus decades on the job made him qualified for another term.

“I’m very dedicated, I’ve got a lot of experience and I’ve got a good educational background to manage this department,” he said.

All three candidates on the ballot for four vacant school board seats on the School Administrative District 54 school board were elected, as was write-in candidate Harold Bigelow. On the ballot for a three-year term, incumbent Director Jane Arthur (488 votes) was reelected. Former Skowhegan selectman and Somerset County commissioner Lynda Quinn was elected with 697 votes as was Amy Rouse (457 votes). Bigelow (74 votes) also was elected.

There were three candidates for four vacant seats on the 23-member school board with incumbent directors Liz Anderson, the chairman, and Noella DesPres, whose terms expire this year, choosing not to seek re-election.

Anderson and DesPres said at the district budget meeting in May that the contentious debate and school board vote to not change the name of the high school sports mascot — the Indians — didn’t factor into their decision not to seek re-election. Both women voted to drop the name “Indians” in a final 11-9 vote that resulted in the school keeping the name.

There also was talk that if the school board voted to drop the name and image of the Indians mascot, the proposed budget for the coming year would not be adopted at the district meeting.

Incumbent director Jessie Roderick of Skowhegan, whose term of office is up, was not at the school board vote on the Indians nickname and was not on the ballot for re-election.

Incumbent Town Clerk and Treasurer Gail Pelotte was re-elected unopposed for a three-year term.

John Grohs was re-elected unopposed for a three-year term on the Board of Assessors.

Michael Lambke was running unopposed for a five-year term as Coburn Park commissioner, and Deborah Jones was running unopposed for a three-year term for overseer of the poor.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

dharlow@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Doug_Harlow

VASSALBORO — Voters approved a $7.1 million school budget and elected representatives to three governing boards in town at Tuesday’s municipal elections.

The $7,141,103 school budget was adopted 92 to 47, according to unofficial results. The budget, approximately $201,370 larger than last year’s spending plan, was approved by voters at annual town meeting last week, but is required to be ratified in a ballot election. Vassalboro property taxes will fund about $3.19 million of education spending.

In other races, Lee Trahan and Alfred Roy were elected to three-year terms, and Paul Mitnik and Lysa Lovely were elected to two-year terms the Sanitary District Board of Trustees. Trahan and Mitnik were the only candidates on the ballot; Lovely and Roy were write-in candidates.

Incumbent school board member Jolene Clark Gamage won a three-year term with 36 votes in an uncontested write-in campaign.

Incumbent Selectman Phil Haines won an uncontested three-year term on the board with 123 votes.

This story has been corrected.

MADISON — Incumbent Selectman Paul Fortin was re-elected Tuesday, defeating challengers Brandon Hagopian and Raymond Sheehan in a three-way race for a seat on the Board of Selectmen.

Fortin received 235 votes, over 82 votes for Hagopian and 165 for Sheehan. Fortin could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

Residents in Madison also gave final approval to a $9,561,733 school budget for School Administrative District 59 on Tuesday. The budget was approved by a vote of 328-157. There were also four void votes.

The $9.5 million budget represents a 9 percent drop in the amount of local school taxes to be raised and a 4 percent drop in the overall budget.

The school budget will be adopted by the board at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday. There are no layoffs or cuts to programs in the budget, although the Madison Education Association, the local teacher’s union, has agreed to a one-year pay freeze.

In other elections results, Troy Emery, John P. Krasnavage and Bruce Thebarge were elected to three-year terms on the Board of Directors of SAD 59. Emery received 250 votes; Krasnavage 383 and Thebarge 310.

Glen E. Mantor was elected to a one-year term as road commissioner with 437 votes; Kathy Estes was elected to a one-year term as town clerk and treasurer with 450 votes; Brock Hagopian was elected to a three-year term on the Anson/Madison Sanitary District Board of Trustees with 368 votes; Steven Dean was elected to a five-year term on the Madison Electric Works Board of Directors with 411 votes; and Kimberly Harper was elected to a five-year term on the Madison Public Library Board of Trustees with 434 votes.

Allen French and Christopher Roy were each elected to three-year terms on the Anson Madison Water District Board of Trustees. French received 339 votes and Roy received 249 votes. A third candidate, Brett Hagopian, received 162 votes.

Rachel Ohm — 612-2368

rohm@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @rachel_ohm

WAYNE — Voters here on Tuesday agreed to spend $15,000 on legal expenses associated with gaining a clear title to a 118-acre parcel of land on Wilson Pond, but whether the town achieves that goal or not, the 100 or so voters at Wednesday’s Town Meeting say they need a lot more information before deciding what to do with the property.

The town foreclosed on the lot on House Road when owner Robert Pettengill failed to pay taxes for five years. The lot includes 1,500 feet of undeveloped shoreline and some in town would like to see it preserved, either by the town or the Kennebec Land Trust.

The town took ownership of the property in April 2013 after Pettengill had failed to reply to numerous notices about the unpaid taxes, Town Manager Aaron Chrostowsky said last week. Pettengill owes $34,000 on the property, which the town has valued at $400,000.

Attorney Nat Hussey, who represents Pettengill, of Monmouth, said the town has rebuffed Pettengill’s effort to pay the back taxes and reclaim ownership of the land while still conserving much of the property.

Voters on Tuesday agreed by a ballot vote of 178-110 to spend up to $15,000 to quiet the title, a court process that ensures the land is free of any encumbrances. The maneuver, if successful, would allow the town to convey the land to a conservation group, such as the Kennebec Land Trust, which is interested in the lot, or to sell the property at open market value.

Selectmen at Wednesday’s open Town Meeting created a nonbinding straw poll to gauge residents’ sentiment about the property. Selectmen essentially asked voters if they favored the town keeping the property or trying to sell all or portions of it.

“We aren’t looking for a definitive answer,” said Gary Kenny, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. “We’re just looking for guidance.”

But many residents said that they lacked the basic information to offer even a nonbinding opinion. The town has hosted a number of informational sessions on the property, but residents were still unfamiliar with the property’s history or even basic details, such as where the property is located.

“I don’t even know why you’re doing this,” resident Ford Stevenson said. “There are so many questions.”

There was an undercurrent of sentiment that favored returning the property to Pettengill or selling it to another party for the $32,000 in back taxes.

“I think Mr. Pettengill should be able to work with the board and get his property back,” resident Mary Farnham said. “I don’t care how many people want it. He should be No. 1.”

Kenny detailed the recent history that led the town to foreclosing on the property in 2013. Kenny said the town sent Pettengill a notice in 2009 warning him that it would put a lien on the property in 30 days if Pettengill did not pay the back taxes or arrange a payment plan. Pettengill did not respond, Kenny said, but because of a procedural error, the town decided to send another notice in 2010, again stating its intention to put a lien on the property without payment or arranged payments. Pettengill never responded until after the town had gone through the foreclosure process, Kenny said. It was only at that point that he attempted to pay the back taxes.

“The town cannot simply sell the property back to the former owner for taxes due after the foreclosure process takes place,” Kenny said.

While many chose not to vote in the straw poll, the overwhelming majority who did favored town ownership and conserving the property.

Wayne voters on Tuesday approved allowing the town to issue licenses for on-premise liquor sales Monday through Saturday by a vote of 246-41 and a separate article allowing Sunday liquor sales, 214-75.

Voters at Wednesday’s open town meeting passed all 36 questions in the warrant with lots of questions but virtually no debate. Voters added another $1,100 to support the Winthrop Food Bank in addition to the $400 the organization supported.

Spending in the municipal budget is down about 1.7 percent, Chrostowsky said, but increases in the school and county budget mean voters will see a tax increase in the 2015-16 fiscal year. Chrostowsky said the tax rate will jump about 33 cents, which means a $33 increase for every $100,000 in home value.

“That’s basically a direct result of the school and county budgets going up,” Chrostowsky said.

READFIELD — The secret-ballot process for all annual meeting articles will continue next year.

Voters approved 358-298 a proposal to continue to use the secret-ballot process for the 2016 Town Meeting.

Some 692 people weighed in on the town’s business in the Tuesday election, all of it by secret ballot. It was the first time that process was used.

The 57-article ballot was so long that chairs were set up at voting cubicles that stood on five long tables on the upper floor of the Town Office.

Town Clerk Robin Lint said 338 people voted by absentee ballot.

She characterized the turnout as “about average” for an election having only local races. The town has about 2,100 registered voters.

According to the machine count available shortly after the polls closed, Bruce Bourgoine, with 459 votes, and Christine Sammons, with 392 votes, won election to the two open seats on the Select Board.

Eugene “Gene” Carbona Jr., who championed the secret-ballot process, garnered 235 votes and James Marr, 206 votes.

“Bruce and I had hoped we would both get on, and we did,” said Sammons, who was present at the vote count. Bourgoine had sent a representative to get the results immediately.

Three items on the ballot were defeated, and they were the articles for which the Select Board recommended approval and the Budget Committee didn’t.

Voters rejected by 77 votes an article calling for the town to appropriate $21,400 for assessing and $21,746 for code enforcement, plumbing inspector and building inspector. The vote was 293-370. The Budget Committee had sought to put in an additional $7,000 in that general category, citing an increased demand for those services.

Voters also rejected by 102 votes a proposal to spend $7,200 for equipment and $28,000 for Maranacook Lake Dam. The vote was 275-377.

In the final item, voters rejected a proposal to appropriate funds to cover overdrafts from the “Unassigned Fund Balance.” The vote was 194-456.

Voters approved, 349-308, an appropriation of $250,183 from the unassigned fund balance to reduce the total tax commitment.

While the ballot showed the two boards disagreed, it was actually a misprint, town officials said. Townspeople were told at two public hearings prior to the vote that the boards actually agreed on the matter.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

Residents in School Administrative District 13 approved a $3.4 million school budget for 2015-2016 on Tuesday.

The budget was approved by an overall vote of 93-43. It passed 53-13 in Bingham and 40-30 in Moscow. There were also two voided votes in Bingham.

The vote Tuesday was the final step in the budget validation process after residents initially approved the $3,432,903 budget on May 28. The figure represents an increase of $97,896, or about 3 percent, from the current $3,335,007 budget.

The amount of money to be raised in local taxes has decreased by about $9,000 in Bingham and $14,000 in Moscow because of an increase in the amount of school subsidies available to the district.