HOULTON, Maine — A small group of 35 residents from Houlton, Monticello, Littleton and Hammond gave their unanimous support Wednesday evening to a nearly $14 million budget for RSU 29 for the 2018-19 school year.
RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Halliday said that the spending plan of $13,986,075 represents an estimated 5.57 percent increase over the current budget. Halliday explained that the budget is up over last year because the district is receiving more money from the state, which is not the case for many school districts, but in order to receive those funds the local share also has gone up.
“We have worked over several months preparing this budget,” Halliday said. “While the budget is up 5.57 percent over last year, it is important to note that the increase to our member communities is just over $11,000 — which came from the state level due to an increase in the mill rate.”
RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Halliday speaks to residents Wednesday evening at the district budget meeting. A small group of 35 people unanimously approved a nearly $14 million school budget for next year. (Joseph Cyr)
The district expects to receive an additional $1,032,830 from the state next year, bringing the total state contribution to $10,206,228. However, the district will need to come up with more money at the local level ($3,366,131) in order to receive those state funds. The required local amount for 2018-19 is an increase of $89,370 from this year.
To further help reduce the impact to taxpayers, the district will take $275,000 from its undesignated fund balance so that it will not need to ask for any “additional local” money. The district has commonly dipped into this account to help reduce the burden for taxpayers. In last year’s budget, the board used $200,000 from its surplus account, while in 2016-17, $100,775 was taken from this account.
The budget calls for an additional fourth grade teacher at Houlton Southside School, a math instructor for Houlton Middle-High School and potentially a school resource/police officer.
A number of projects are in the works for the next school year, including repaving the school parking lots and adding more safety features to the schools in the form of new locks and additional security cameras.
Participants during Wednesday’s district budget meeting asked few questions on the 18 various warrant articles. The few that were asked focused on the Career and Technical Education’s budget and the district’s share of the Adult Education program.
The tax implications for each of the four towns is as follows: Houlton, $2,464.283; Hammond, $65,526; Littleton, $453,370; and Monticello $382,950.
“We are so fortunate in this district that we have committed teachers, support staff, food service personnel, custodians, bus drivers and administrators,” Halliday said. “We also have terrific students who excel academically, artistically and athletically.”
Now that it has been approved at the district budget meeting, the package will go to a referendum vote on June 12 in the communities of Houlton, Hammond, Littleton and Monticello.
