HODGDON, Maine — Turnout was sparse and comments were few last Thursday as residents in the communities that make up SAD 70 gathered for the annual district budget meeting.
About 40 people spent little more than an hour approving a $6,502,765 budget for 2015-16 with little discussion. No attempts were made by the public to reduce the spending plan. Overall, the budget is a decrease of $224 from last year.
Although the total budget is down, the amount of money needed locally is on the rise. Six of the seven communities that make up SAD 70 (Amity, Cary, Haynesville, Hodgdon, Linneus, Ludlow and New Limerick) will see an increase in the amount they must contribute next year. New Limerick is the lone community that will see a slight reduction, based on state valuation.
SAD 70 will receive $3,233,860 from the state for general purpose aid for education, which is a decrease of $83,506 (2.5 percent) from last year. In addition, the amount the district must raise in order to receive those state funds has also gone up $77,506 (4.3 percent) to $1,868,778.
Because SAD 70’s budget has traditionally been higher than what the state says it should pay for “Essential Programs and Services,” the district will need to raise additional local dollars to balance its budget. This year, that additional local total amounts to $837,627, which is an increase of $3,276 (0.4 percent).
How this budget impacts the local communities, not including costs for adult education, is as follows: Amity, $153,671, an increase of $6,720 (4.6 percent); Cary Plantation, $126,360, up $4,818 (4.0 percent); Haynesville, $104,147, an increase of $5,656 (5.7 percent); Hodgdon, $630,345, up $25,517 (4.2 percent); Linneus, $687,875, an increase of $30,920 (4.7 percent); Ludlow, $255,452, up $10,534 (4.3 percent); and New Limerick, $762,055, a decrease of $884 (0.1 percent).
According to the budget packet, Amity has 30 students; Cary, 19; Haynesville, 13; Hodgdon, 200; Linneus, 120; Ludlow, 28; and New Limerick, 30.
For the second straight year, the district plans to use a carryover of $350,000 to help reduce the tax impact. The district is also optimistic it will receive $125,000 in revenue (an increase of $25,000) from students who tuition into the district, as well as a jump in Title 1 money from Mainecare ($43,000 which is an increase of $13,000.)
The district will have four teachers retire at the end of the current school year and only has plans to replace two of those teachers, hopefully at probationary-level pay to save even more money.
A number of capital improvement repairs will also be put on hold. Engineers did a study of the entire district earlier this year. That study revealed $1.6 million in improvements were needed at the high school and an additional $839,000 at Mill Pond School.
The district has opted to do only those repairs that were listed as critical needs for next year, including the installation of higher handrails on stairwells at the high school, at a cost of $30,000; fire alarm system replacements, about $20,000; new safety straps for the basketball backboard at the high school and Mill Pond, $9,600; a rubber membrane for a section of roof at the high school, $2,000; and the creation of an staff bathroom on the second floor at Hodgdon High School, $8,000.
