Sanford voters approved a $38.1 million school budget Tuesday that is identical to the budget they rejected in June.

City Clerk Susan Cote released the results from the daylong special election on Tuesday night. She said the results are still unofficial.

Cote said 1,036 people voted to approve the education budget for 2016-17 while 841 voted against it. Sanford has more than 13,000 registered voters.

If the school budget had failed a second time, school officials said they would have had to cut programs.

Tuesday was the first time Sanford had ever held a second vote on a school budget. On June 14, voters rejected both the school budget and the $24.2 million city budget, which called for a 2.44 percent overall spending increase.

The vote against the school budget in June was 1,054 to 785.

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Immediately afterward, there was confusion about whether a second school budget vote would be required.

A provision in the city charter sets a threshold for the number of votes needed to reject the municipal budget. Shortly after voters rejected both budgets, city officials determined that the charter provision did not apply to the school budget. But the municipal budget was considered passed because the turnout fell 18 votes shy of the threshold.

Combined, the municipal and school budgets will add 71 cents to Sanford’s property tax rate, which will increase to $22.75 per $1,000 of valuation. That increase will add $120.70 to the bill for a home valued at $170,000. City officials say that increase will be offset by an increase in the homestead exemption for anyone who owns a home valued at $170,000 or less.

City and school officials reviewed the school budget and held two public hearings, and said they heard little opposition to the proposed budget.


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