ELLSWORTH, Maine — Having voted “no” a month ago, Ellsworth voters will get to weigh in again on the city’s proposed annual school budget on Tuesday, July 7.
Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The previous proposed 2015-2016 budget had been $19.9 million but was rejected by voters on June 9 by a 129 to 105 margin. The low turnout for the referendum, which was the only item up for consideration on the citywide municipal ballot, represented only 4.2 percent of the city’s 5,534 registered voters.
City school officials have since reduced the proposed budget to $19.78 million. As was the case the first time around, the elected school board and the elected City Council each have voted to support the proposed budget.
Since June 30, when the 2014-2015 school year ended, the school department by law has been operating under the rejected $19.9 million budget — the most recent one approved by the City Council — and will continue to do so until a new budget is approved by voters.
