The RSU 50 board of directors met on Monday to finalize the 2014-15 budget. After and hour and a half deliberation, the board settled on a $9,820,958 budget, which is an increase of 4.57 percent.
An RSU 50 district budget meeting will be held on June 5, with the budget validation on June 17.
The proposed budget originally looked at a 5.87 percent increase to operate the school at the level it is presently being done.
Candy Nevers, town manager of both Smyrna and Merrill, shared the presented numbers with her selectmen and the proposed figures would drive those town’s mill rate over 18 and the next year upward to 20 mills.
“These towns cannot afford this,” she said. “We are taxing our people beyond their ability to pay.”
Nevers cited her towns’ populations were elderly on fixed incomes and young families, who are working and not making ends meet. She had more people this winter apply for fuel assistance from the town.
“People did not qualify, but they had no money to buy fuel,” Nevers added.
Nevers went on to say, there are people who cannot afford to pay their taxes and probably wouldn’t be able to on existing budgets.
“We cannot support this,” she said. “If we could, we would. The money is not there. People are hurting.”
Greg Ryan, RSU 50 board of directors chairman, agreed with board member Peter Main that the towns could not afford a near 6 percent increase.
“At some point, people need to look at where we are and what we can do in the future,” he said. “If we flat line it, then it makes it look like we can operate this school on a lot less money than we really can.”
Main agreed that this was a responsible budget with the 5.87 percent increase.
Nevers pointed out that she did not believe the budget as presented would pass at referendum in any of the towns. Each town report is showing a growing list of uncollected taxes.
“It is not sustainable, as sad as it is,” she said.
Board member Philip Knowles acknowledged the board realizes the money is not there in the towns.
“We are in a critical time,” he said. “We need to make some decisions – the community not so much the board, as far as where our future goes.”
Knowles, an original member of the SAD 25 school board, noted even if the two districts were separate, each would still be where it is today.
“Funding formulas are legislative and your EPS formula is based on 750-800 students per unit,” he added.
“And, we both pushed things down the road,” Ryan noted.
Knowles said both sides of the district had been putting off roof maintenance, which will be costly.
“We need to look at what our priorities are,” added Ryan.
Board member Larry Greenlaw noted that not only were the roofs an issue, but heating may be an issue as one of the three boilers is in rough shape. He noted the Katahdin Elementary School roof “that water runs right through it.”
“We are going to have some major renovations to do,” he said. “If we keep putting them off, it will cost more and more. They need to be done if you want to keep these schools.”
“It is getting to a point where we may be getting into health concerns,” Knowles added.
“I don’t think that is the place we want to be cutting at this time,” Greenlaw said.
Nevers, who has been involved in municipalities for 40 years, said, “The majority of people are struggling. If they cannot buy food or fuel, they are not going to pay taxes, they can’t. We can tax people, but if they don’t have the ability to pay then our ability to pay our bills will be affected.”
“What the community supports is what we are going to have to make work,” said RSU 50 Superintendent Larry Malone, noting there have been significant reductions made through the last few years. “I would like to have direction from the board on priorities.”
Malone noted the declining enrollment is driving the budget.
“Over 70 of our students in our district are choosing other options,” he explained. “We have outgoing student numbers that are higher numbers than what we anticipate coming in. So, next year’s budget may be reduced again.”
Personnel are working directly with students; programming provides opportunity; afterschool program is a benefit to students; and the literacy update is something needing to be addressed in regards to programming.
“If you are looking [for a place to cut] it is a matter of pushing off the facilities, without having direct impact, ” Malone said.
A feasibility study for the buildings was left in the budget to help with a five-year or 10-year plan.
“We know what we see,” said Malone. “We see water running through the roofs, regularly on two of the buildings. We can show the cost of fuel. But, there are other maintenance needs that each building has that is unique.”
To patch one roof, the projected cost is $100,000.
Ryan said, “We need to put forth a budget that will operate this school at the quality of education that we should be giving, and keep a dry roof.”
Later in conversation, Ryan noted there was a “silent voice” of people who do not want to see this is what is needed to maintain RSU 50.
“We have to put forward the budget. I understand it may not pass, but it may be an eye-opener. This school cannot operate the way it is if we cannot afford to,” he added. “We need to be looking at other ways to configure this school system.”
Reductions from the proposed budget to the new budget included $10,000 in facilities; $90,000 in the instructional lines, including teacher retirement and reductions in the substitute and course reimbursement and $20,000 for repairing athletic fields at both Southern Aroostook and Katahdin schools.
