SAD 46 voters OK $13.7M plan

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

DEXTER — A proposed 2016-17 budget of $13,742,710 was approved — with all 17 articles passed as written — in about 15 minutes during a district budget meeting on July 21 at the Ridge View Community School. The total was then moved to a referendum in the towns of Dexter, Exeter, Garland and Ripley on Tuesday, July 26 (please see the Piscataquis Observer Facebook page and next week’s edition for the referendum results).

Superintendent Kevin Jordan said the $13.7 million-plus figure “is a reduction of $224,462 in the bottom line of the budget” from the first proposed 2017 budget of $13,967,172 that was voted down at last month’s referendum.

Jordan said the spending plan approved on July 21 represents an approximate $532,000 or 4.02 percent increase over the 2015-16 budget. “We have an additional $303,000 from the state in order to pay for this school, it’s a pass-through,” he said, saying after accounting for this state funding for debt service the proposed 2017 budget is only up by 1.72 percent from last year.

The superintendent said the SAD 46 budget has risen an average of “less than 1 percent per year since we moved into this school” in the fall of 2010.

When asked, Jordan explained the local shares of the SAD 46 budget are determined by the state based on the pupil count in each community and valuation of the four towns. The combined local assessments, comprised of required and local additional monies as well as funds for SAD 46’s $63,034 share of the Piscataquis Valley Adult Education Cooperative, equal $3,122,247.

“Compared to the 2015-16 school year this will be a decrease of $209,624 or 6.29 percent for what the school district is asking from local taxpayers,” Jordan said.

The local assessment breakdown is $1,894,990 for Dexter, nearly $130,500 or 6.44 percent less than last year; $507,484 for Exeter, representing an approximate $20,690 or 3.92 percent decrease; $443,180 for Garland, which is a reduction of about $39,230 or 8.13 percent; and Ripley’s $276,591 share is down by just over $19,250 or 6.51 percent.