WESTBROOK – There’s a lot at stake in next Tuesday’s primary election.

When Westbrook voters go to the polls on June 12, they will be deciding which candidates move on to the November ballot in races ranging from the U.S. Senate to the Maine House of Representatives. But there is also a local issue facing voters – the fate of the $30.9 million Westbrook school budget for 2012-2013.

State law requires that all local school budgets get voter approval, and a question asking Westbrook voters if they favor the school budget approved by the City Council last month will appear on Tuesday’s ballot.

School Superintendent Marc Gousse said that he would be holding one final public information session on the school budget on Saturday from 8-10 a.m. in room 114 of Westbrook High School. Gousse said he anticipates that the session would be an “informal” one, giving residents time to ask whatever questions about the budget that they wanted to.

As approved by the council, the total school budget comes in at $30.9 million, with $16.5 million of that coming from local property taxes. That figure represents a decrease from the $31.1 million originally proposed by school administration.

Gousse told the council last month that the school department’s budget had anticipated a 5 percent increase in health insurance costs, while the actual figure came in at 4 percent. Additionally, the department’s dental insurance premiums decreased by 1 percent and a number of teacher retirements added to the savings.

The school budget represents a 0.15 percent increase in spending and a 1.16 percent increase in the amount needed from local taxes over 2010-2011’s $30.8 million budget.

While the school budget represents an impact on the local tax rate of 19 cents per $1,000 of valuation, a figure that would represent a 10 cent increase to the tax rate, Westbrook taxpayers will not see any property tax hike. The increase will be mitigated by money from the city’s newly created tax stabilization reserve account, leaving residents with the same tax rate as this year.