Need for accountability

To the Editor;

    There has been a lot of concern among the taxpayers in Sangerville about the proposed increase in the SAD 4 budget. According to The Pirate’s Chest, the SAD 4 budget will decrease by $80,011 for budget year 2015-16 after a district wide increase of $116,458 in 2014-15. However, this did not account for the fact that the District no longer had to make a payment on the Piscataquis Community Primary School, which in the 2013-14 budget cycle had been $328,259. Thus, the 2014-15 budget actually increased by $444,717; a 6 percent increase, not the 1.6 percent increase proclaimed in The Pirate Chest.

    So why didn’t SAD 4 reduce the budget in 2014-15 by the amount of the no longer needed Primary School payment? The school budget should have decreased in 2014-15 with the elimination of the $328,000 payment. The amount of the primary school payment was absorbed in the 2014-15 budget and remains part of the proposed 2015-16 budget.

    In Sangerville, we are facing an 11.2 percent increase in our portion of the school budget which translates to $84,274. This is at least a mill increase in the property tax. Other towns in the district will see comparable increases. While we don’t want to see a rerun of the chaos that ensued in Newport a couple of years ago when the taxpayers there repeatedly voted down the school budget, we do feel that there is a need for greater accountability in the SAD 4 budget process.

    We urge the taxpayers in SAD 4 to attend the District Budget Hearing on Thursday, May 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Primary School, and seek answers for any questions they may have. Nothing will change, if we don’t get involved.

Sangerville Select Board

William Rowe, chairman

Thomas Carone, selectman

Melissa Randall, selectman

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