ROCKPORT, Maine — The spring snowstorm on Monday has delayed the scheduled evening public input sessions on Camden-area school budgets to Wednesday, March 30.
A hearing on the budget for School Administrative District 28, which operates the kindergarten through eighth grades for Camden and Rockport, now will be held 5-6 p.m. on March 30. The session on the budget for the Five-Town Community School District, which operates the high school for Camden, Rockport, Lincolnville, Hope and Appleton, will be 6-7 p.m. that same day.
Both hearings will be in the lecture hall at Camden Hills Regional High School.
The proposed Five-Town budget for 2016-2017 is $12.3 million, about $288,000 more than the current budget. Additional state revenues, however, mean that most communities will pay less in property taxes to support the budget.
Camden is projected to pay $64,000 less, dropping to $3.7 million. Rockport is expected to pay $372,000 less, dropping its annual payments to less than $3.5 million. Lincolnville will be paying about $40,000 less, paying $1.6 million. Hope will pay an additional $38,000 to reach $639,000 and Appleton will pay an additional $12,000 for a total of $458,000.
The SAD 28 budget is proposed at slightly more than $13 million, an increase of $164,000.
Camden will pay about $6.6 million and Rockport about $5.3 million, both of which represent slight increases from the current budget.
The Five-Town CSD Board expects to take a final vote on the proposed budget at its 7 p.m. April 6 meeting, while the SAD 28 board will take a final vote at 7 p.m. April 13.
The district budget meeting at which residents attend and set a budget will be May 24 at the Strom Auditorium at Camden Hills. The SAD 28 hearing will be at 6 p.m. and the Five-Town hearing at 7 p.m.
Referendums to ratify the budgets will then be held in each community on Tuesday, June 14.