The Regional School Unit 21 School Board is reviewing Superintendent Dr. Terri Cooper’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, which begins on July 1.
The RSU 21 School Board will hold a public forum on the budget for residents to weigh in on April 1, and the Finance Committee will present the budget to the school board again for a second read on April 22. Dan King photo
Under her proposal, both overall expenses and revenue sourced from local taxpayers is set to increase. The budget for the coming fiscal year is $59.6 million, a $3.85 million or 6.91% increase from the year prior. That translates to a $3.25 million dollar tax increase for residents from FY 2024, or a 6.86% increase.
The proposed tax increase for the the RSU 21 budget is factored in with the county and town budgets to come up with the respective mil rates for property owners in the towns comprising RSU 21, Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. The mil rate denotes the amount of property tax levied per $1,000 of property value.
After local taxes, the second largest source of revenue for the district is state funding, which will be an estimated $6.2 million this coming year, a $786,908 or 14.32% bump from the year prior.
Under the superintendent’s proposal, RSU 21 will use $2.5 million of its starting fund balance, which “represents the amount the voters have authorized for the district to use from the district’s FY24 ending undesignated fund balance,” or funds carried forward and not spent the year prior, Gayle Spofford, board member and Finance Committee chair, wrote in an email.
The starting fund balance is considered to be an attractive source of revenue because it offsets the amount that local taxpayers must pay, but over-relying on the undesignated fund balance is considered financially risky.
Per the proposal, the district will use less of its fund balance this year, $400,000 dollars fewer than in FY 2024.
RSU 21’s overall budget increase is primarily driven by increases in salaries and benefits (they constitute 78% of the overall increase).
The budget proposal includes a $2.15 million increase in total salaries, up 7.3% from the current fiscal year, and $864,304 increase in benefits, up 8.86% from the current fiscal year.
“The school board has set a goal to lead as a high performing school district, in the state of Maine and indeed on a global basis,” said Spofford, during a presentation of the budget proposal at the school board’s March 18 meeting. “Compensation and benefits reflect district goals by attracting and retaining outstanding teachers and staff at all learning level.”
The school board unanimously voted to approve the first reading of the budget proposal at that meeting.
The school board will hold a public forum on the budget for residents to weigh in on April 1, and the Finance Committee will present the budget to the school board again for a second read on April 22. The finalized budget will be voted on by residents during the upcoming June 11 election.
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