VEAZIE, Maine — Residents will see an increase in the tax rate of about 40 cents per $1,000 in property value if the new school budget is endorsed by residents later this month.
“The mill rate will go up to $18.15, from $17.75,” Council Chairwoman Tammy Perry told a handful of residents Monday during a public hearing for the new proposed education budget.
Residents rejected a $4.1 million school budget last month, forcing the school board and Town Council to compromise, and the two panels came up with a new $4.15 draft budget that will go before voters on July 28.
Originally, the school board’s budget asked for $2,915,342 from residents and the Town Council wanted $200,000 cut so that the local contribution would be flat-funded at $2,714,264. The compromise reached under the new draft budget is $2,766,500.
An increase in state revenue has helped offset some of the Town Council’s request, Emil Genest, interim superintendent, said after the meeting.
“The gross [amount] is $99,000 less than last year,” Genest said of the new draft budget. “We received $57,000 more from the state. That helped.”
Councilor Chris Bagley said the proposed budget is close to the amount that was rejected by residents last month.
“I’m having a hard time understanding why we’re preparing the same budget that got rejected last time,” Bagley said during the public hearing.
Perry responded by saying residents in town are contributing $52,000 more under the new draft budget, which, when added to the additional state revenue, made up the compromise.
“My personal point was we were splitting the different,” the chairwoman said.
Residents will vote on the new draft budget at a special town meeting, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 28. Councilors will meet just before the vote at 6:30 p.m.
Residents will be able to increase the proposed school budget by up to 1.5 percent at the annual town meeting, according to the town charter.
If the $4.15 million budget is approved at the annual town meeting, residents will vote again during a budget validation referendum on Aug. 4. If the referendum vote fails, the budget process starts again.