For the first time this year, residents in every community in Maine will be asked to approve their local school budgets at polls.

Locally, voting will take place in South Portland on May 13, in Scarborough on May 29 and in Cape Elizabeth on June 10. In past years, elected representatives approved the budgets in all these communities without the approval of voters in a referendum.

Under the state’s new school consolidation law, voters get the ultimate say in an up or down vote. While this new rule is good in principle, it’s flawed in application and needs revision.

The first problem with the consolidation law is that it requires communities to hold a vote within 10 days of when the budgets are approved. This is too short a period of time that doesn’t give towns much time to notify residents of the votes.

It’s already going to be difficult to get people to participate in a special election on the budget. Such a narrow window will only make it more difficult to get information to voters and publicize the election. State law requires public notice for public hearings one week and two weeks in advance. With only 10 days’ notice, two weeks in advance wouldn’t even be possible for these elections, and with budgets changing as they are reviewed by school board members and town councilors, it would be difficult for most voters to get educated on the final version so quickly.

If communities are going to hold votes each year on their school budgets, the votes should be tied to the June primary, when other races and issues will draw residents to the polls in greater numbers. That would also, in most cases, give voters more time to learn about the budget. It would also save towns the cost of holding an additional election. In South Portland, for example, holding the separate vote on the school budget will cost $1,500.

The Legislature should also consider setting some sort of criteria for when votes should be held, because they might not be necessary in every case. If a budget were to increase by only 1 or 2 percent, for example, it’s hardly worth holding an election to get the approval of voters. The state could set a formula or tie it to the Consumer Price Index, as Cape Elizabeth did in recent years with its spending cap. That would ensure that only budgets with a substantial increase would go to voters.

Another problem with the vote required by the consolidation law is that budgets go to a straight up or down vote. If a budget fails to get the approval of voters, it sends town councils and school boards back to the drawing board with little information. If the budget were unacceptable to voters, it would be difficult in some cases for elected officials to discern what would be acceptable.

While getting voters to look over the shoulders of elected representatives via mandated referendums is good in theory, the state’s law requiring them needs plenty of work. Voters should get educated about their local school budgets and participate in local votes this spring, as well as the public meetings that come before them. Legislators should watch what happens this spring carefully and use the observations to make revisions to the law next year.

Brendan Moran, editor