ROCKLAND, Maine — Regional School Unit 13 expects to erase its $2.6 million deficit within three years.
The business manager made the pronouncement during a Tuesday meeting of the board’s Budget and Finance Committee.
The 2024-2025 audit reported a deficit of about $2.6 million in the overall budget of more than $41 million at the end of the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The deficit was due largely to the district not receiving the MaineCare reimbursement it had expected to cover some of the special education costs for speech, occupational and physical therapy.
Business Manager Katherine Hunt said for the first few pay periods this year, she expects the district to spend $1.1 million less than budgeted, which would help reduce the deficit.
Former Business Manager Peter Orne attended the meeting via Teams and said the first month is generally the least reliable period to use in a forecast of year-end savings. He said he estimates a range of $400,000 to $1.2 million and would consider $625,000 to be the best projection for savings at this point.
Assistant Superintendent Steffany Tribou pointed out, however, that if the district were to fill about 16 special education educational technician positions that remain unfilled, the savings would be less.
The business manager went through the budget, article by article, to update board members on spending and revenues for the current 2026-27 budget.
She also reminded the board it would need to transfer money from the district’s $100,000 contingency account to cover the costs of the superintendent search.
The board voted 7-1 on Oct. 7 to hire Alma Advisory Group of Chicago, which could cost up to $63,000. That does not include paying for travel or lodging costs for candidates to come to interviews.
Regional School Unit 13 board members voiced concerns at that Oct. 7 meeting about audit findings for 2024-25 that found numerous deficiencies in financial operations in the district. The business manager said at that meeting, the finance department has responded to those findings and is working to ensure they do not occur again.
In March 2026, the Internal Revenue Service filed a $321,867 tax lien against RSU 13 for errors in withholding of federal income taxes, Medicare taxes and Social Security taxes. Nearly $300,000 of the lien is for the tax period that ended in December 2019. Another $10,188 was for the tax period that ended in June 2023. And another is about $11,000 for the tax period that ended in 2024.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.