PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — After the first draft of MSAD 1’s budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year failed at the polls on Tuesday, May 1, school district leaders are set to present much the same budget to voters on Tuesday, June 12.
Clint Deschene, MSAD 1 assistant superintendent of business, announced during a budget workshop and public forum on May 10 at Presque Isle Middle School that the district’s board of directors decided to stick with their originally proposed budget out of a desire to pursue spending that attempts to stabilize or eliminate the decline of the district’s fund balance and to align with the district’s right-sizing goals.
The right-sizing model would involve closing at least one or two MSAD 1 schools and renovating existing schools for additional classrooms and administrative offices.
“The high school is not designed for middle school students and the classrooms and bathrooms in our middle school were not designed for pre-K through second grade,” Deschene said, referring to a conceptual plan that calls for the closing of Pine Street Elementary School and the renovation of existing schools. “The decision on whether to close a school will probably go to voters in November if we do not receive funds from the state for renovations.”
The MSAD 1 Board of Directors held the one-hour workshop and public forum on Thursday night largely to spread greater awareness of how the school budget impacts local property taxes.
Deschene explained that the increases that school district residents will see in school-related property taxes do not take into consideration potential changes regarding County taxes or municipal expenses such as for fire and police departments.
“The property tax numbers you have been reading are correct, but there has been confusion about what they mean. It’s easy to think that if you own a home in Presque Isle then your total property taxes will go up 2.9 percent,” Deschene said. “But we can only tell you what will happen to your school-related property taxes. We have no idea what will happen with other city and town taxes.”
The $24.7 million budget being presented again to voters is for the fiscal year July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019. As proposed, it represents an increase in the local share of school costs of about 4.5 percent for Castle Hill and Chapman, 7.8 percent for Mapleton and 6.5 percent for Westfield. On May 1, 322 people voted against that budget, while 246 voted in favor of it.
Changes in the state-mandated real estate valuations also play a role in assessed property taxes. Deschene noted that even though school assessments are calculated based upon property valuations and the two-year average valuations of all member communities, the valuations that individual communities set are regulated by different state laws.
“This means that the fall taxes for a $100,000 home in Presque Isle will go up by $4.86 due to education-related property taxes only. The same type of home in Mapleton will go up by $50.83,” Deschene said. “There’s such a sharp difference in real-estate valuations because Mapleton is seeing an increase in students while Presque Isle is seeing a decrease.”
Westfield will see the second highest increase of school-related real estate valuation in the district — $38.30 — while Castle Hill will increase by $28.35 and Chapman by $27.36.
The budget also leaves room for all faculty and staff pay raises, with the agreed-upon lowest amount being for administrative positions. It also accounts for increases in spending for special education services and the high school’s Career and Technical Education program due to increased needs for those programs.
The school district, Deschene said, has continually searched for ways to decrease budget costs without cutting needed programs such as changing a contracted teacher position to a full-time staff position — a move that has saved the district $20,000 annually — and beginning a new after-school program through a partnership with Champions, a subsidiary of KinderCare Learning Centers company.
“We don’t want to cut to the point that the budget negatively affects our students’ quality of education,” Deschene said. He then cited a 6 percent voter turnout from school district residents as a major reason why he encourages MSAD 1 residents to voice their opinions and/or suggestions about the budget so that the district can pass a budget before June 30.
The MSAD 1 Board of Directors will finalize all budget documents during their meeting beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, in the Presque Isle High School boardroom. The next district budget meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 22, at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at Presque Isle High School. If approved then, the budget will be placed before voters at a validation referendum on June 12.
Deschene encouraged any district member with concerns or questions about the school budget to contact him or MSAD 1 Superintendent Brian Carpenter at deschenec@sad1.org or carpenterb@sad1.org or (207) 764-4101 or post comments to the school district’s website or Facebook page. Copies of the proposed budget and the May 10 public forum presentation are available at https://sad1.org/budget-info/.
