Monmouth school budget process to start from scratch

SunJournal.com, Thursday, June 12, 2008

MONMOUTH - Voters rejected the $7.4 million school budget on Tuesday, 59-41, because it was too low, school board member Michael Rogers said Wednesday.

Voters rejected it because it was too high, Selectman Tim McDonald said.

Both are correct, officials said.

So when Monmouth sends another budget to voters, should it be higher or lower?

"I don't know. That's a good question," said Jim Rier, director of finance for the Maine Department of Education. "They need to figure that out, get input from folks who were not supportive and try to make changes."

"We're just working on that today," Superintendent Leon Duff said. "It is not clear now."

Unlike some communities, Monmouth did not ask voters why they voted no.

McDonald said he had received many calls from folks who thought the budget was too high. "They've had a hard time making ends meet with the cost of fuel. They're not getting raises. They're really hurting," he said. "Seniors tell me this past winter they had a hard time deciding whether to buy food to eat or fuel to heat their house."

That worry has exploded along with the cost of heating oil in recent weeks.

McDonald said he'd love to restore gifted and talented programs and spend on maintenance. No one is against schools having what they need, but it's important to consider the less fortunate people in town, senior citizens, who don't have any more money to give, he said.

That's why, he said, after the school board approved a $7.7 million budget, it was cut to $7.4 million during the June 2 town meeting. The $7.4 million budget represents a 4.18 percent increase over last year, and increased taxpayers' costs slightly.

Monmouth has received more money from the state intended for property tax relief, but there's been no tax relief, McDonald said.

Rogers said that when the budget was cut, "that incensed some people." Some apologized for not being at the town meeting. Attendance numbered only about 60, Town Manager Curtis Lunt said.

The vote to cut the budget was "only a one-vote difference. I think it was 29 for and 28 against," Duff said. "It's hard to read that."

The pro-school spending side reacted swiftly by forming a grassroots coalition. They made a call list and urged people to vote at the June 10 referendum and reject the $7.4 million budget.

The $7.7 million approved by the school board "represents a responsible budget in my eyes," Rogers said. "We've been facing flat funding from the town. State money was increasing, but not enough" to keep up with the costs of education, he said.

Even if the school board got the requested $7.7 million, "the schools would probably be under funded," Duff said. "The $300,000 knocked out things absolutely essential."

Now selectmen will call another town meeting. "There will be another vote," Rogers said. "We have work ahead of us."

McDonald said the budget that goes to voters should be the same one they rejected on Tuesday, not a larger budget. "It was a good compromise."

Lunt said Wednesday that he hopes to hold another town meeting and referendum before the end of June.

At the next town meeting, voter turnout "will probably swell now that it's been rejected," Lunt said.