PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The proposed School Administrative District 1 budget for 2015-2016 is based on the ideals that define the district, according to Superintendent Gehrig Johnson.
“The overall summary of this budget is defined by slightly reduced state funding with sustained enrollment,” he said. “The key choices represented in this budget were to sustain current staffing and service levels and to review options that would enhance educational opportunities.”
The proposed budget of $24,138,091 is an increase of $129,228 over last year’s budget. Registered voters in Castle Hill, Chapman, Mapleton, Presque Isle and Westfield will vote during the first step of a two-step process at the district budget meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, in the Presque Isle High School cafeteria. The budget validation referendum will be held at municipal polls Tuesday, June 9.
Overall, the district’s expense budget is up 0.5 percent. The changes to revenues and expenses to make this happen include the following:
— State funding decreased $74,618.
— The required local share is up $260,743, a mandated 0.38 mills; however, municipal year impact to budgets are 0.41 percent total, or $163,320, ranging from 0.04 percent to 1.53 percent increases. For example, the amount to be passed to taxpayers in Presque Isle during the municipal budget year is $6,152,769, an increase of $2,473, or 0.04 percent, over last year.
— Debt service and local additional were decreased $97,423.
— Miscellaneous revenue is up $15,000 to offset revenue losses to service provider fees and donations.
— Use of cash balance was increased by $46,433 to a total of $3,620,985 to lessen the overall impact on local taxes.
— Energy savings continue to meet goals and lessen costs.
— Retirements have allowed salary expenses to remain flat.
— Lower than expected health insurance increases reduced health benefit expenses by $103,811.
— The state’s shift of Maine State Retirement costs to the local budget increased expenses by $69,818.
“Our intention going into this budget [season] was to have it maintain all programming that we presently offer without adding or cutting at all,” Johnson said. “It’s a status quo budget. It gives us what we need to move forward one year without adding or subtracting to it.”
The superintendent said the largest change in the proposed budget is the implementation of one-to-one computing at Presque Isle High School.
“Technology has been a mainstay of SAD 1. But in recent years, the budget realities have required technology to maintain or decrease expenses,” he said. “One-to-one computing has grown in Maine and the nation. This budget would place a computer in every high school student’s hands. In addition, staff would be supported with training and a curriculum that maximizes the investment.”
The budget for 2015-2016 exemplifies the history of fiscal responsibility that SAD 1 has followed without sacrificing the quality of education, Johnson said.
“Declining and flat state subsidy — combined with increased pay and benefit costs — will continue to present challenges to the district budget,” he said. “Careful planning will be the necessity of all budgets. Budget increases, in the future, for SAD 1 will in all likelihood resemble what is happening statewide with increases in the 3 to 5 percent range.
“The reality is that these will be confronted annually, and although we can plan, it is impossible to be certain of changes in funding that will impact taxes to our member communities,” Johnson said.