BATH — The Regional School Unit 1 Board of Directors on Monday unanimously approved a $28.3 million budget for next year.

The spending plan includes three minor additions.

The first two – about $7,000 for a lacrosse program at Bath Middle School, and about $10,000 for an additional day of nurses at Phippsburg Elementary School – earned board approval April 25.

The board included the third addition, about $3,000 to add an after-school robotics program at Bath Middle and Woolwich Central schools, as part of its approved budget Monday, according to RSU 1 Business Manager Debra Clark.

The three additions, requested by the public during the budget process, were offset by nearly $22,000 in savings from resignations, replacements and benefits, she said.

If the budget is approved by the public at two votes in the coming weeks, district-wide taxes will increase 3.44 percent. The fiscal 2017 spending plan will increase 3.39 percent – adding nearly $928,000 – to $28.3 million.

Offsetting revenues include $9.4 million in state subsidy, up about $53,000.

Salaries, which comprise nearly 68 percent of the budget, are $19.2 million, an increase of 3.38 percent.

The $17.1 million in taxes assessed to the four member communities reflect a 3.44 percent, or about $568,000, increase. Bath’s share would be $9.7 million, up 3.45 percent; Arrowsic’s, nearly $508,000, a 12.26 percent hike; Phippsburg’s, $3 million, up about 1.71 percent, and Woolwich’s, $3.9 million, a 3.71 percent increase.

The budget now goes to a district budget meeting May 31, and a budget validation referendum June 14.

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

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