The Standish Town Council is scheduled to vote on the FY 2007 proposed budget at its next council meeting, Tuesday, Apr. 25.
Latest available budget figures project an overall mill rate of slightly below $10, according to Town Manager Gordon Billington. At $10, the rate would reflect a decrease of 11 cents from last year’s rate, effecting a $22 decrease in taxes on a $200,000 home, from $2,022 to $2,000.
Municipal budget
Cumberland County taxes are projected to be $521,255, up from $486,979 last year, an increase of 6.5 percent.
At $5,992,872, this year’s projected municipal budget total reflects a 1 percent increase from last year’s figure of $5,919,349.
A key challenge for Standish and other towns has been the uncertainty of fuel prices.
“Energy costs are hard drivers,” Billington said. “Nothing seems to be staying in the growth cap.”
Other rising costs include insurance. But, overall, Billington said he is “comfortable with the budget.”
The council will submit an approved budget to the Budget Committee by May 1. Standish residents will get their say at annual town meeting on Saturday, June 17.
School budget
Standish is one of five towns included in SAD 6. Because it has the highest number of residents, students and total property valuation of any town in the district, Standish contributes 41.4 percent of SAD 6 funds.
The total SAD 6 school budget is $37.3 million. But there’s good news this year for Standish residents regarding their portion of the budget. The Standish share of the total is $7.05 million, down 5.87 percent, or nearly $440,000 from last year.
Included in that total is the local contribution and additional local allocation for Essential Programs and Services (EPS). With the state funding for EPS at 51.6 percent, SAD 6 must raise $13.6 million locally to get its full share of $19.2 million in state aid.
Additionally, communities are required to raise the 10 percent toward EPS that is not covered by state funding. Standish’s contribution toward that local allocation is $1,364,034.
According to school board member and Standish resident Bruce Avery, the board started the budget process earlier this year.
“People felt relatively comfortable that the numbers came into a reasonable range,” he said.
But he added that he hoped the board was “hearing from the trenches” about what was really needed for the students.
“I hope we’re addressing the hopes, dreams and wishes of both teachers and building administrators,” he said.
Although the process included difficult decisions, overall, SAD 6 Superintendent Suzanne Lukas said she thought the process was easier this year than last because it was the second year they had used a needs-based budgeting system.
Echoing Billington’s frustrations over rising energy costs, Lukas said that up until this year, the district was able to obtain a fixed price for fuel, which makes budgeting much easier.
“This year, the market has been so volatile that most bids would not give us a fixed amount,” she said. “It puts us in a very precarious position.”
With the district’s buses averaging 1.2 million miles a year, every penny that gas goes up costs the district $4,500.
Salary increases also impact the budget. Salaries make up 75 percent of the district’s costs. With contractual agreements that include mandatory pay raises for more than 700 employees, even a modest raise affects the budget significantly.
Lukas is pleased with the district’s decision to replace the student information system database. The new program will be “state of the art,” allowing parents to check their children’s attendance by logging into the system. The district has also budgeted for a financial software package to update their purchase order system.
Another change to the budget involves snowplowing costs. In previous years, member towns absorbed these costs. This year, the cost has been shifted to the district, which has budgeted $70,000 for a plow truck replacement and contracting.
This year’s budget also includes architect and engineering fees for the new elementary school building project in Buxton. In addition, figures reflect the district’s commitment to continue repairing buildings and refurbishing classrooms.
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