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RSU 52/MSAD 52 approves revised budget, board returns additional fund balance to taxpayers
Summary
The district approved the board’s revised budget (a board-presented 4.59% increase) and all warrant articles; the board also voted to return an additional $150,000 from fund balance (total transfer stated as $750,000). Article 13 (additional local funds) was decided by written ballot as announced at the meeting.
RSU 52/MSAD 52 voters approved the school board’s revised budget and all remaining warrant articles at the annual district budget meeting.
The board presented a revised total budget described in the meeting as a 4.59% increase over last year and said that, because of other revenue, the average local tax impact across the three towns is 2.89%. The board reported $100,315 in line‑item reductions (instruction, athletics, libraries, technology and facilities) and said workers’ compensation insurance came in lower than expected, allowing $11,426 of reductions allocated across warrant articles.
At its May 28 meeting the board voted to return an additional $150,000 from the unallocated fund balance to taxpayers; at this meeting the presenter stated the total fund-balance transfer in the budget is $750,000 (up from earlier versions of the budget that used $600,000 and last year’s $555,000). The board emphasized that carryover arises from variable staffing costs and planned reserves for capital projects such as the wastewater treatment plant and future boiler replacement.
The meeting proceeded through Articles 1–11 (cost centers) and Article 14 (summary appropriation by municipality), each moved, seconded and approved by voice vote. Article 13 (the additional local funds article) required a written ballot; the moderator reported the tally as "nays 22, ayes 11" and one folded ballot that could not be counted, and stated the motion carries in the meeting record.
Other actions: Article 10 (debt service) was read as zero dollars and approved; Article 15 authorized adult education appropriation and its local share and was approved.
Numbers and statutory citations: The moderator read statutory references to the Maine Revised Statutes (Title 20) while presenting Article 14’s appropriation by town. Many amounts were read aloud during the meeting; several figures in the spoken record had unclear comma placement or formatting in the transcript and are noted as read in the meeting record.
Next steps: The presenter reminded residents that the budget validation referendum is scheduled for Thursday, June 25 at town offices and encouraged voters to participate.
What it means: The board-approved budget and the decisions made at this meeting set the district’s spending plan and local tax requests ahead of the validation referendum; the fund-balance return reduced the net local increase reported in the presentation.
