Saturday’s York referendum ballot included dozens of line-item funding questions for the town and school departments, as well as five municipal seats.

Voters were also asked to approve a roughly 2% increase to the York School Department’s budget, a 7.8% increase to the town budget and a number of capital investments. Most articles passed, but residents pushed back on several.

Here’s a closer look at what residents voted in favor of and what they did not.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS LARGELY APPROVED

York schools’ proposed $48.7 million operating budget — a 2% increase from last year — was approved by a margin of almost 500 votes.

The most significant funding includes over $2 million for transportation and buses, which will include the purchase of new vans and a salary for a new transportation coordinator, Superintendent Timothy Doak said.

Several questions passed by margins over 1,000 votes, including a small raise in the budgets for career and technical education, system administration and school administration. 

An 8% decrease in the “Other Instruction” category — primarily covering costs for extracurricular activities — was also overwhelmingly approved. Doak said the savings mostly came from coaching staff changes.

The ballot also included several school capital funding questions. The department’s $3 million proposal for a new HVAC system — which will be installed next summer — passed by only eight votes.

The baseball and softball fields at Village Elementary will receive upgrades, and a sidewalk will be installed along Robert Stevens Drive near York High School.

THREE SCHOOL ITEMS FAIL TO PASS

Three school budget questions — operating and capital — were shot down by voters. 

That included a proposed budget of $402,000 for adult education, which will now revert to last year’s budget of $360,000.

Of the $402,000 proposal, nearly $263,000 would have been raised by the town. Instead, York will raise $255,000, equal to last year’s share.

Doak said he doesn’t understand why the funding was rejected.

“It’s not a huge difference,” he said. “We’re going to have to look at how we get funding and other places to do some reduction.”

He also described residents’ decision to vote down an “all other expenditures” cost center as surprising. It would have covered programming at the York Community Auditorium, including the town’s community mentor program. 

“The community really wants more programming at the YCA, but now they’ve just reduced money for it,” Doak said. “We’ll have to look at that one, too.”

A capital investment to replace the department’s exterior windows at its central office was also denied. The capital investment would have been $73,000, with a total cost — including interest — of almost $97,000.

The town has discussed restructuring the school department, which could include moving the superintendent’s office into a school. That could have factored into voters’ decision to vote down an upgrade to the current office building, Doak said.

TOWN BUDGET APPROVALS

The town’s operating budget proposal of around $34 million, a 7.8% increase, was approved.

Key municipal operation funding includes over $8 million for highway maintenance, tree planting and waste management services, plus the same amount for police department communications. 

Residents also approved a $1 million question for the operation of the York Public Library and $4.5 million for the town’s debt service.

A nearly $600,000 proposal for the operation of the center for active living failed by 25 votes, but a capital budget item that asked voters to approve the $110,000 purchase of a 14-passenger van for the center, was approved by nearly 200 votes.

“When we were reading the results live at the end of the night, that was surprising,” Town Manager Peter Joseph said. He said he could not explain why voters would vote down funding but approve the vehicle purchase.

Most of the other questions voted down by residents related to the purchase of new vehicles for the Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments.

The ballot included questions which would allow the departments to replace a 2015 rack body truck, a 1988 bucket loader, a sidewalk plow and a dump truck. None were approved.

“The prices of things are out of our control, and whether or not we purchase them is up to voters,” Joseph said. “It’s a little bit disappointing, but certainly not a surprise and certainly understandable why people have concerns about those things.”

Voters also failed to approve a $600,000 paving project on Mountain Road. It would have allowed for the expansion of the shoulder between Clay Hill and Mountain View Lane. Joseph said the area is a popular recreational destination for hikers and bikers but also sees high vehicular traffic.

“That got a lot of discussion at the Budget Committee this year and actually had negative preference votes.” Joseph said. “That obviously carries some weight.”

Other road and recreational reconstruction projects, including a $180,000 fund to restore the first third of the Cliff Walk and $2.5 million for seawall and sidewalk reconstruction at Long Beach Avenue, were approved.

MUNICIPAL ELECTION RESULTS

Voters decided on two contested races in the town government.

Incumbents Amanda Sedgewick and Courtney Munoz retained their positions on the budget committee, edging out newcomer Thomas Hedger.

In the race between write-in school committee candidates, Michael Modern received 373 votes to Sean Bradburn’s 245.

“I think anybody that wants to take part in a school committee, with the work it entails now in today’s educational realm, is commendable,” Doak said. “We’re excited to get a new member.”

Elizabeth Bardwell was elected as town moderator, Barry David as sewer trustee and Russell Peterson as water trustee; all three ran unopposed. Marla Johnson and Robert Palmer were both reelected to the selectboard.