SAD15
presents budget to NG Selectmen
By Janet Neal
New Gloucester- SAD15 Superintendent Victoria Burns
presented the New Gloucester Board of Selectmen with
an overview of the School District's proposed budget.
She explained that the District lost some state subsidy
due to increased property values, declining student
enrollment, and the rising median income of the community.
These are factors in the state's funding formula.
The District will also have less revenue from tuition
since the number of non-resident students enrolling
in G-NG schools has declined. Superintendent Burns
also noted that the state subsidy number being used
in the budget is based on the Governor's recommended
school funding package. The Legislature has yet to
approve that amount.
The latest budget draft (Mar 31), modified downward
almost $200,000 from the first draft (Feb 10), has
a new bottom line of $17,283,070 which is still an
increase of $975,874 over the current year. That is
a 5.98% budget increase.
However, because of lower state revenues and less
tuition revenue, the local taxpayers will have to
pay the entire increase themselves, plus make up for
other lost revenues of $144,457. This translates into
an increase of 13.08% in the local tax assessment
for both towns in total, but it does not directly
translate into a 13.08% increase on individual taxpayers.
Because of growth in the towns' values, the actual
tax impact on property owners is projected to be 8.22%
in Gray and 2.46% in New Gloucester.
Ms. Burns also pointed out that SAD15 is currently
spending 71.7% of its budget directly on instruction.
The entire state spends 68.4% on instruction. SAD15
spends 6.2% on general administration and school administration.
The state total is 9.9%.
The Superintendent spent time explaining the rationale
for adding a new program, all day kindergarten, even
though this is a "tough year" to do it.
She said "We know we have to continue to do better…Our
children need to get off with a good foundation for
first grade." When questioned by Selectmen regarding
proven benefits of the program, Burns responded "The
research is compelling regarding all day K…We
hope it saves money in the long run by reducing the
need for remediation."
