WEST BATH

West Bath voters went to the polls Tuesday to validate a $3,702,570.74 budget for the West Bath School Administrative Unit.

The vote was decisive, with West Bath voters approving the budget with 429 votes in favor and just 75 against.

The budget includes a .51 percent increase in expenditures over the prior year’s budget of $3,683,962.97. Included in the budget are a few capital improvement costs, such as two heating supply pumps, a unit ventilator, and the replacement of a main hallway floor.

“We worked really hard to keep it very streamlined and efficient,” said Superintendent and Principal Emily Thompson. “I think we did a pretty thorough job.”

Despite the district’s state subsidy increasing by a third, or $40,771.70, the local contribution to the school budget will be increasing by 1.54 percent. According to Thompson, that increase is due largely to the fact that the district does not have a significant carryover from the undesignated fund balance like it did last year. For the 2017-2018 budget, the West Bath School Administrative Unit was able to use $64,029.39 from the undesignated fund balance towards reducing the local contribution.

“Last year, we had funds in the undesignated funds balance that could be applied. This year we don’t have those funds because we had set aside funds from the undesignated funds balance in the prior year to set up a reserve fund for special education,” said Thompson.

For that reason, the local contribution will be $3,146,286.12 for the coming school year.
nstrout@timesrecord.com