The Maine School Administrative District 75 finance committee holds a budget hearing on March 18. Screenshot

The Maine School Administrative District 75 superintendent is proposing a $47.19 million school budget for 2021-22, a 2.5% increase in spending that would increase local taxes by 1.7%, or $450,871.

For an average-priced home, this would increase annual property taxes by an estimated $3 (0.2%) in Bowdoin, $30 (1.6%) in Harpswell, $40 (2.1%) in Bowdoinham and by $50 (2.2%) in Topsham, according to Business Manager Mark Conrad.

Conrad and Interim Superintendent Robert Lucy presented the proposed $47.19 million budget, which is a $1,134,766 increase over the current budget. It includes a $835,583 or 1.8% drop in debt service and $110,342 or 0.2% in reduction of resources within the district.

The school district is getting an additional $347,894 or 1.9% in state subsidy. The budget also incorporates an additional $300,000 from the district’s fund balance carry-over account to help offset taxes. The district is also paying for $556,800 worth of student remediation programs with grants.

Driving the increase, in part, Conrad said, is $200,000 budgeted for out-of-district placement of students, as well as a workers compensation increase of $136,300. That increase is largely due to injuries district employees have reported recently, so the district is working on a safety plan to help avoid injuries, Conrad said.

Additionally, teacher salaries are increasing an average of 4.1%, health insurance is budgeted for a 6% increase and a 4% increase for dental, and the state’s new Maine Earned Paid Leave law will increase substitute costs by 2.5%, according to Conrad.

The district’s share of the Region 10 Technical High School budget is nearly doubling in one year, increasing from $149,370 to $299,419 due to COVID-19-related expenses, Conrad added.

Lucy also reviewed the $520,010 in additional resources included in the draft budget. The larger expenses include $144,568 to add two seventh-grade teachers at Mt. Ararat Middle School, $87,862 for two van drivers, $76,196 to increase teacher and paraprofessional staffing, and $72,284 for a special education teacher at Mt. Ararat High School.

Conrad said this budget assumes that all district students will return and be in school full-time next school year.

The school board’s finance committee will hold another virtual budget hearing on Monday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. The school board is slated to vote on a budget on April 29 to send to voters ad a district-wide budget meeting on May 20. The resulting budget is scheduled to be voted up or down through a budget referendum on June 8.