It was light turnout locally, when voters in Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach passed their respective school budgets on Election Day, Tuesday June 8.
Biddeford voters ratified a $40 million school budget recently approved by the City Council for the next fiscal year 206 to 43. The budget is offset by about $17.1 million in revenues, including $14.5 million in the state’s allocation to education. That leaves about $22 million to be raised through local taxation, up from the current year by an estimated $494,000.
Voters approved a $45.5 million budget in Saco which was also passed earlier by the City Council following a recommendation of the Saco School Board, which had initially recommended a figure that was $600,000 more. Of the total, $28.3 million will come from local taxes, up by $602,000 from the current year, said Finance Director Jason DiDonato. The vote was 275 in favor, 92 against.
In RSU 23 – Old Orchard Beach schools — voters had the last word on the proposed $15.1 million budget, of which an estimated $13 million, which includes proposed school and adult education allocations, is to be raised through local taxes, a figure that represents a 1.3 percent increase to the town over the current year, said Business Manager Cindy Cox. Voters approved the budget 138-54.
In a May 17 memo to the Biddeford School Committee, Superintendent Jeremy Ray said if the supplemental budget proposed by Gov. Janet Mills is approved by the Legislature, it would increase state funding to education to the 55 percent level, up from 51.8 percent — and that could mean as much as an extra $1.5 million to Biddeford in the state’s allocation, Ray estimated.
If the Legislature approves the budget, the Biddeford School Department would return to the City Council for a revenue adjustment, which would come before the City Council sets the tax rate, Ray said.
Approval of the supplemental budget may also impact Saco and Old Orchard Beach schools.
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