Westbrook residents on Tuesday narrowly rejected the proposed $51.7 million school budget by a vote of 844 to 791.

The budget was up 9.6% from the current year and would have required a tax rate increase of $1.45.

School officials said the biggest driver of the increase was salary and benefits. The district also faces an increase in health insurance rates and a new payroll tax that goes into effect next January. More money is also needed to support students and cover increases in the costs of goods and services, officials said.

In a letter to the community, Superintendent Peter Lancia said the budget was developed to meet the learning needs of students.

“The complexity of our student population continues to expand. This includes students in special education programs with over 600 learners receiving services including a record number of students requiring outside of district placements in programs and facilities due to significant needs. Additionally our population of students receiving multilingual services continues to grow, now to over 500 students, many of whom are newcomers and require targeted support in English as well as social services,” he said.

The expected state school subsidy for Westbrook dropped slightly from $19.59 million to $19.57 million.