Residents of Freeport, Durham and Pownal voted Tuesday to approve Regional School Unit 5’s proposed $37.2 million budget for the 2022-2023 school year.
RSU 5 serves about 2,000 Durham, Pownal and Freeport students, according to the district’s budget proposal.
About 69% of voters across the three towns approved the budget, which contains a $1.4 million increase over the current edition. Freeport residents were most supportive of the proposal, while only about 55% of Durham favored the increase.
The $37.2 million figure, which attendees of the district’s annual budget meeting approved on May 25, represents a 4.22% increase over the current school budget, according to the district’s proposal. The largest drivers of the budget increase include salary and benefit increases and the hiring of additional staff.
The district estimates the budget’s mil rate impact on Freeport will be 2.15%, or a $0.29 increase to the town’s current rate of $13.35 per $1,000.
For Freeport residents with a $200,000 home, this would translate to a property tax bill of $2,728 – a $58 increase over the prior year. Freeport’s total tax contribution to the school budget will total $20.51 million.
In Durham, the estimated mil rate impact will be 2.01%, or a $0.42 increase to the town’s current mil rate of $20.70 per $1,000. For Durham residents with a $200,000 home, this will translate to a property tax bill $4,224, an $84 increase over last year.
Durham’s total tax contribution to the school budget will be $5.61 million.
The proposed impact on Pownal’s mil rate would be 1.74%, or an estimated $0.31 increase to the town’s current mil rate of $18 per $1,000. For Pownal residents with a $200,000 home, this would translate to a property tax bill of $3,662 — an increase of $62.
Pownal’s total tax contribution to the school budget will be $3.3 million.
Residents of the district’s three towns also voted to continue using the current budget validation referendum process for another three years.
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