Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – It’s back to the drawing board for SAD 1 officials as voters in three of the district’s five communities rejected the 2009-2010 budget of $22,875,939 at the polls last Tuesday. In Presque Isle, the budget referendum was defeated 235-105 with only 4 percent of the 7,092 registered voters casting ballots. In Mapleton, the referendum was approved 34-18 (4 percent of the 1,329 registered voters participating), Castle Hill defeated the budget 11-9 (or 6 percent of the 311 registered voters), the budget was passed in Chapman by a vote of 6-5 (4 percent of the 313 voters), and Westfield defeated the referendum 13-6 (5 percent of the 380 voters).
“This was an extremely low voter turnout,” said Superintendent Gehrig Johnson at a special board of directors meeting Wednesday. “It’s almost unheard of … only 4.7 percent of the 9,425 registered voters in SAD 1 communities went to the polls. The budget was defeated by about 2 percent of the people who voted … the other 98 percent either voted ‘yes’ or stayed home.
“I’m disappointed in the low turnout of employees and parents,” he said, “but it is what it is.”
Johnson shared with directors options to reduce the budget if that is the direction they wish to proceed.
“If we go into Operations and Maintenance and remove the projects that we’ve scheduled for 2009-2010,” said Johnson, “we could potentially reduce the budget by $291,000. In addition, bids for Workers Comp came in recently at $115,000 less than budgeted.
“If we reduce the budget by an additional $300,000 to $400,000,” he said, “we could reduce the tax increase by about one-half but we would only be putting off needed maintenance projects that will need to be addressed later.”
Among the major maintenance and repair projects scheduled for 2009-2010 include:
• Boiler repair at Presque Isle High School ($31,000).
• Roof replacement ($75,000), interior wall replacement ($6,000) and sprinkler pipe replacement ($5,000) at the pre-K building.
• Exterior brick repair ($16,000) and return air vent installation in the gymnasium ($6,000) at Mapleton Elementary School.
• Repave front entrance/exit driveway ($20,000) at Pine Street Elementary School.
• Exterior wall/window replacement along the east wing of Zippel Elementary School ($125,000).
Director Terry Sandusky said he has a few “very clear rules” when it comes to revising the district’s budget.
“Don’t make any staff reductions, don’t make any program reductions, and don’t make any cuts to art, music or sports,” he said. “Other than that, everything is on the table for me and we should explore all our options.
“I would rather see some of the O&M projects delayed,” said Sandusky, “but there’s an old saying, ‘Pay me now or pay me later’ and the problem is, these projects will cost more if we do them later.”
Board member Paul Saija, who also chairs the building and grounds committee, said he, too, supports a delay in projects.
“I would go along with a delay,” he said. “Even though only 280 of out 9,600 registered voters voted down this budget, the community is probably expecting a reduction, and I think that’s what we have to do.”
Director Dana Allison said she was concerned that if the masonry cracks at Mapleton weren’t repaired soon, they would become “crevices.”
“I do not want to see a reduction so severe that even a patchwork approach is precluded,” she said.
Board member Curtis Culberson meanwhile is opting to finish the Zippel project.
“We’ve started it, and I think we should finish it,” he said.
Which projects will be put on hold remain to be seen. A budget meeting was scheduled for June 16 to further discuss the matter. A second board meeting will be held – if needed – Thursday, June 18 at 6 p.m. in the board conference room at Presque Isle High School.
Summarizing the board’s concern, Johnson pointed out that only 282 people decided the budget for a five-community school district of over 13,000 people.
“Complacency was a big issue in this referendum,” he said, noting that it will cost another $5,000-$8,000 to hold a second referendum vote. “This budget was only up 2 percent. The mil rate was the same 11.6 mils as it was for the last three years. We are the victim of a state funding formula that withholds funding for school districts whose communities have large increases in valuation. Presque Isle’s valuation increase for 2008 was double the state average at 12 percent.”
The state expects SAD 1 to collect the reduced amount from municipal taxes.
“We know that SAD 1’s per pupil spending is $574 less than state average. The average school system in Maine spends $1.1 million more than SAD 1, yet we compete both in the classroom and in extra curricular areas with the best systems in Maine,” said Johnson. “We need the communities’ support to continue that.”
