RSU 06 budget committee recommends baseline budget plus $250,000 and sets ceilings for tax and budget increases

The Budget Advisory Committee for RSU 06/MSAD 06 voted to move the district’s baseline school budget forward with an additional $250,000 and approved a formal resolution that limits average local tax-assessment increases to 6.1% and general fund budget growth to no more than 5.45%.

Committee Vice Chair Todd Delaney, presiding at the meeting, said the advisory panel’s recommendation is advisory only and will next go to the Finance and Facilities Committee and then the full school board for review before any public vote. "If the budget fails, we have to immediately schedule another vote and go back to work to revise a budget," said Mr. Gleason, who summarized the consequences of a failed referendum for the committee.

Why it matters: the committee’s dollar recommendation frames negotiations between the administration, the Finance and Facilities Committee and the school board and determines the assessment figures that towns will consider before voters decide in May and June. The committee discussed three packaged options: a baseline, a baseline plus select supplemental requests, and a full supplemental package. After straw votes eliminated the full package and the mid-tier option, committee members supported the baseline plus $250,000.

Key details and debate

- Straw votes and final motion: Committee members first polled support for the full supplemental package (option 3), which would have increased the general fund by about 7.57% and raised town assessments by…