LIMESTONE, Maine — Less than 20 residents convened on Sept. 21 in a classroom at Limestone Community School to approve a transfer of more half a million dollars between RSU 39 and the Town of Limestone.
The RSU 39 school board, whose members represent Caribou, Limestone, and Stockholm, decided to recommend transferring the money during an Aug. 16 meeting in an effort to eliminate the need for future special town meetings in which Limestone residents periodically request a small amount from their reserve account in order to offset tax increases.
The reserve account was established on Oct. 31, 2009, and contained money Limestone had before joining RSU 39. At that time, the account contained $697,038.62, which the other RSU 39 towns agreed to only use for helping Limestone with school-related tax increases.
Since establishing the account, numerous special town meetings have been held in which a small portion of the account was transferred back to the town. Not only were these meetings brief, but they also required the presence of a town clerk and moderator, the posting of a warrant, and the presence of Limestone residents to approve the transfers.
RSU 39 officials thus decided to just transfer all of the money back to Limestone in order to reduce time and money involved with holding brief meetings each year.
As of Aug. 31, the Limestone Reserve Account currently contained $516,544.37 in two CDs owned by RSU 39. To reduce monetary penalties, the full amount of each CD will be transferred after they expire. One CD contains $138,326.17 and will expire on Oct. 6 and the other contains $378,218.20 and will expire on May 31 of 2018.
Since RSU 39 officials are waiting until the accounts expire, the total amount transferred will be slightly higher as both accounts garner interest.
On Sept. 21, the school board and about 10 Limestone residents met in room B101 of Limestone Community School to approve the total transfer. In roughly five minutes, a moderator was elected, ballot clerk appointed, residents motioned for and accepted the transfer, and the meeting was adjourned.
During the time, RSU 39 Superintendent Tim Doak briefly explained the purpose of the transfer.
“This is so the RSU will give Limestone back the money that was set aside when we became the RSU 39,” Doak said. “We felt it was in the best interest of RSU 39 and Limestone to give the money back to the town as long is it is used for educational purposes, instead of always going through the RSU [to transfer funds].”
