Voters approve $4.2 million SAD 45 budget

    WASHBURN, Maine – About 80 voters in Washburn, Perham and Wade voted Monday night to adopt the 2007-08 SAD 45 budget of $4,201,610.
“The warrant articles were all approved,” said Superintendent David Lyon of the meeting that was held at the Washburn District Elementary School.After electing John Hedman, superintendent of Union 122, as moderator, voters were given the task of deciding the fate of four articles.
Article II concerned the State/Local Essential Programs and Services Funding Allocation.
Lyon said that in order for SAD 45 to receive the full amount of state dollars – $2,468,121 – as outlined in the EPS Funding Act, Perham will be assessed $122,635, Wade ($77,924) and Washburn ($438,164).
“Article II raised $638,724,” he said. “Residents had to vote that in the affirmative or they would not get the $2.4 million from the state. That article was approved 58-to-1.”
Article III is the amount of money the district raises over and above what the state will match, Lyon said. The district recommended $718,997, which was approved – by written ballot – by a vote of 56-to-16.
Article IV was the authorization to spend the money that was raised in the previous two articles, or $4,201,610. That article passed 58-to-6.
The meeting lasted almost two hours.
“Because of the complexity of what’s happened in the district, people had a lot of questions,” said Lyon. “I did a presentation before the vote to explain the situation, so it took longer than it has in the past.
“There was a lot of concern about how we got into the financial situation we’re in, why it was allowed to happen, and what the current board was going to do to prevent it from ever happening again,” he said. “The residents wanted some accountability in the future.”
At a special emergency budget meeting held May 16, the citizens of SAD 45 rallied in support of their schools and children by approving by a unanimous vote the borrowing of $350,000 to infuse additional money to finish the school year in the black.
That $350,000 loan must be paid back by June 30, 2008, therefore increasing the 2007-08 budget.
Lyon said the board of directors has already taken steps to improve accountability.
“In the past, monthly financial statements were distributed to board members and to the staff, and somehow that practice got put by the wayside, so that the board in the last year and-a-half hasn’t been receiving those financial statements that show balances and other information,” he said. “We’ve already re-instituted the practice of distributing monthly financial statements and we’ve expanded it so we’ll be sending to each of the town offices and selectmen copies of the monthly statements so they can see where we are financially month by month.”
Though pleased the 2007-08 budget has been adopted by the residents, Lyon said the budget will have to be managed very carefully.
“This is a very fragile budget,” he said. “There isn’t a lot of wiggle room. There isn’t a lot of extra money put in there for emergencies. If we have some serious financial impact, we would be looking at some serious problems, so this budget has to be managed very closely.
“I said before the special emergency budget meeting that the cat would land on its feet, and it has,” said Lyon. “We’re on our way to financial recovery.”