March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

SAD 3 directors to present budget that voters rejected

UNITY — By a vote of 7-3, the SAD 3 board of directors has decided to present a $9,233,816 budget at the district budget hearing scheduled for Aug. 30. That figure is the same amount that was rejected at referendum on Aug. 30.

The decision to go with the same figure came at the conclusion of a lengthy public meeting held Tuesday at Mount View Junior High School.

“They felt that any cuts would impact on the quality of the programs offered our students,” Superintendent Gerald Clockedile said. He added that the opportunity for the public to debate the size of the budget in open meeting was another reason the board approved the $9.2 million figure.

Besides last week’s vote, the budget also failed to win passage during a June referendum. In each case, opponents of the spending package cited the 15 percent increase in the amount to be raised through local taxes as the source of their anti-budget fervor.

“That hits our pocket,” Wes Kinney told the board Tuesday.

Kinney advised the board to cut the local share back to the $696,000 that was raised last year. Because SAD 3’s state subsidy was reduced by more than $300,000 this year, the district is asking taxpayers from the 11 communities to raise an additional $1,081,094 above the local share of $1.6 million. Clockedile reminded those attending the meeting that in return for the $2.6 million raised by local taxes, the state contributed $7 million to the budget.

When Clockedile noted that the increased local share would add about $70 in taxes to a home valued at $50,000, one resident reminded the gathering that the added tax worked out to “20 cents a day.”

Board members George Anderson of Liberty, Chris Legore of Montville and Phil Bloomstein of Freedom voted against bringing the same budget back to the voters. Anderson suggested the budget be reduced by $125,000 as a way of indicating to voters that the board was listening to their complaints about high taxes. His motion failed to receive a second.


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