After months of review by Raymond town and school budget planners, the Board of Selectmen will decide whether to approve the 2006/2007 fiscal year budget, now in its sixth draft, at its next board meeting on Mar. 18.
If the budget remains unchanged, taxpayers can expect an overall mill rate increase of 12 cents, from $9.30 to $9.42, or 1.3 percent. This would effect a $24 increase in taxes on a $200,000 home, from $1,860 to $1,884.
County tax totals $481,299, up from $454,778 last year, or 5.8 percent.
Raymond residents will have the final say when they vote on the warrant articles at this year’s town meeting on May 20.
Town budget
This year’s municipal budget total is $3.42 million, up from last year’s budget of $3.32 million for an overall increase of 3.1 percent, bringing it within the LD 1-allowed limit, or 3.38 percent in Raymond’s case.
Raymond Town Manager Don Willard said that one of the major challenges for this year’s budget came with the recent revaluation. Because business properties were lowered in value as a percentage of the tax base, some of the money normally in TIF will be shifted to the town’s general fund.
Another significant change was the reduction of Raymond’s solid waste fees, from $75,000 to $60,000, because of the partial pay-as-you-throw system the town adopted this year.
And Willard was positive about the restrictions mandated by LD1.
“People think LD1 is not working, but it does work,” he said.
School budget
On the school side, the town’s overall budget, which includes two schools as well as tuitioned high school students, is $8.82 million or an increase over last year of 3.94 percent.
“Our greatest challenge was waiting to see what state funding was going to be,” said Raymond Superintendent Sandra Caldwell. “We made sure we looked at a budget that was realistic.”
State subsidy this year rose by 1.6 percent, to $1,666,851. Raymond Elementary School will see an 8.28 percent overall increase and Jordan Small, a 9.88 percent increase. Special education costs will decrease by 7.95 percent. The total budget for tuitioned students is increasing seven-tenths of a percent.
The single largest percentage increase falls under Improvement of Instruction on the line item Dues and Fees. With an increase of 2,346.81 percent, or $5,750, at first glance one might question the purpose of such a jump.
According to Caldwell, the figure reflects the $5,000 fee to be a part of the Sebago Alliance, a consortium of five area schools. But the investment has already paid off with an $880,000 grant for a three-year program on teaching history.
“We looked really hard to come in under five percent and we feel confident we have a fiscally responsible budget that will also meet the needs of our staff and students.”
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