Municipal officials in Dayton and Saco are urging voters to reject the budget for Regional School Unit 23.

The proposed $42.5 million marks about a $79,000 increase from the budget for the current year. It was approved by the RSU board and by residents at a public meeting last month. In order to be passed, it must receive final approval on a referendum vote in Saco, Dayton and Old Orchard beach on Tuesday.

The Saco City Council voted last week on a resolve to encourage voters to vote against the proposed budget. Dayton officials have expressed a similar sentiment in a statement on the town’s website.

Saco Mayor Roland “Ron” Michaud, in a press statement, said that last year, Saco was asked to fund almost 46 percent of the cost of new programs for the other two communities.

The RSU budget represents a continuation of the status quo, which is unacceptable, said Michaud. The RSU, he said, was formed in order to create efficiencies in the school system and save taxpayers money, he said.

“In the last two years, we’ve seen very little change in the delivery of services to Saco children and nothing but increases in the mill rate,” said Michaud in his statement.

Michaud said that the cost per pupil to educate students is $12,200 in Old Orchard Beach; $9,500 in Dayton; and $9,900 in Saco.

Michaud said there are disparities in student to teacher ratios, with class sizes in Old Orchard Beach on average smaller than those in Saco.

RSU Board Member Gary Curtis disputed Michaud’s analysis and said a case could be made that Old Orchard is subsidizing both Dayton and Saco.

Curtis said that Dayton has 9.46 percent of the students and provides 8.4 percent of local monies; Saco has 69.53 percent of the students and pays 58 percent of local monies; and Old Orchard Beach has 21 percent of the students in the district, but pays 33 percent of local monies assessed.

Curtis said that class sizes may be smaller in Old Orchard Beach, but the schools don’t have the same resources as those of Saco. The RSU is still new, he said, and parity over districts “will not happen overnight.”

Curtis added that Saco Middle School received an extra guidance counselor for the upcoming year.

“Nobody’s been left out in the cold,” he said.

RSU Board member Dan Cabral said he was quite surprised to hear Dayton selectmen and Saco councilmen reject the budget.

“The RSU 23 budget should be supported wholeheartedly by voters in Saco, Dayton and Old Orchard Beach. It is basically flat-funded; being only 0.19 percent over last year’s RSU budget,” said Cabral.

Cabral said he appreciated the concern of the municipal officials, but voting the budget down will have a detrimental effect on all the students in RSU 23.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.