BRUNSWICK

The lone member of the public present at Thursday’s school budget presentation to the town council said the pubic cannot complain about rising taxes if they are silent during deliberations.

Jean Powers said residents may feel intimidated or fear public ridicule if they speak publicly at a meeting, saying it took her several years before she found her own voice.

“It’s time people got up on their own two feet to voice their opinion,” she said.

Vice Chairwoman Kathy Wilson responded by saying she too was disappointed and surprised more residents hadn’t turned out for the meeting, and encouraged people to call or email their representatives on the council and school board to share opinions and concerns.

Residents could face up to a 5 percent increase in their tax bill if the combined school budget, municipal budget and county budget, totaling $63 million, are passed as is.

The school budget presented to the council has been pared down by $849,585 from its first draft presented earlier this year, and was described at the meeting as a maintenance budget. It totals nearly $38 million, a $282,933 increase from last year’s budget. Of that figure, $24 million will be raised by taxpayers. To mitigate the tax burden, those cuts included one part-time and two full-time teaching positions, a language lab at the high school and money for maintenance repairs.

Superintendent Paul Perzanoski said for the first time, the development of the budget proposal has been built on Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal without input from the Legislature. He said the final decision on what is appropriated to the district from the state will not be made until after the June vote on the budget.

In the last three years, the state has burdened local taxpayers with more responsibility for funding school operations, first starting with districts paying for teachers’ retirement. In 2018, that cost is $680,000. LePage’s proposal to eliminate reimbursement for system wide administration decreases funding by another $1 million.

Business Manager Kelly Wentworth said nearly 90 percent of the school budget consists of non-discretionary, fixed costs such as salaries, benefits, utilities and debt service. The breakdown of the budget by the top three articles shows 43 percent of the money, or $16 million, goes toward funding regular instruction. Special education is allocated $5.4 million, or 14 percent of the budget, and facilities absorbs about 12 percent, at $4.5 million. Of the 2,313 students that attend Brunswick schools, 382 receive special education services, which accounts for about 17 percent of total enrollment, the budget presented to the council shows.

The graduation rate in 2014 and 2015 was 92.6 percent, which is higher than the state’s average from that same year at 87.6 percent, according to data compiled by the state.

Council Chairwoman Alison Harris thanked the school board, superintendent and business manager for keeping the council informed.

The town council will meet May 2 and the school board will meet again on May 10.

jlaaka@timesrecord.com