After a failed motion to cut spending increases by over half, the Community School District (CSD) School Board approved a $12,742,897 budget for the 2025 fiscal year, 4-2. Residents will vote on it at an upcoming district meeting and validation referendum, according to the charter enacted in October.

Board members Peggy Splaine, Bruce MacDonald, Abby Jones and Jenessa Garrett voted yes. Stephanie Hawke and John Bertolet voted no.  

The budget was met with mixed results after cuts were recently made in response to the board’s requests and voters passing a $30 million referendum to renovate Boothbay Region Elementary School. According to Superintendent Robert Kahler, the cuts included reducing spending and $100,000 to be put towards reducing taxes. The approved budget represents an 8.5% increase in spending from the previous year. A draft from April 23 showed a 13.2% increase in spending. 

“You guys have gone back at our request to make some savings and you have made some great savings and I appreciate that,” Splaine said.  

For some board members, the cuts could have been greater, given the high cost of living. Hawke and Bertolet raised concerns that tax increases will overburden residents, force them to move, or dissuade families from moving to the area. Later in the meeting, Splaine said the towns already have considerably low tax rates for Maine. The 2022 estimated average tax rate per $1,000 of property value in Maine was $11.21 while Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor was around $6.5, according Maine Revenue Services. 

Bertolet and Hawke questioned some of the budget line items and asked what else could be removed to give families more financial relief.  

“I really appreciate the work that's been done here as far as finding savings,” Bertolet said. “However, looking at the bottom line, I feel that whatever we put in, a new program, a new employee, anytime we add something to a budget of a substantial nature, we should try as hard as we can to take a similar amount out, particularly in this year and last year.” 

According to the CSD, the total budget assessment will be $10,515,645 (an 11.8% increase from 2024). The cost is divided between Boothbay, with 264 students as of June, and Boothbay Harbor, with 123 students as of June. Boothbay will be responsible for $7,177,619 (a 19.97% increase), and Boothbay Harbor will be responsible for $3,397,866 (a 2.69% decrease). In addition, the budget shows $59,840 raised for adult education, a 12% decrease from the last fiscal year.

After discussion, MacDonald moved to pass the budget as presented. Hawke amended the motion to trim expenditures to a 4% increase.  

“The school is the heart of our community. And we want to keep it,” Hawke said. “We just can't when you're talking 7%, 5%, 4%, 10% on $11 million or $10 million, that's not chump change.” 

Hawke proposed going through the budget and decreasing many line items to disperse cuts and not single out one department or area. “And if it's positions, I mean, you got to cut it down. If it takes going to one building for everybody, we need a school, but we need to be able to afford it,” she said. 

Other board members expressed concern with the financial burden on taxpayers but were less inclined to make more cuts to educational programming and resources. “You’re talking about taking resources away from what you said was a great value to our community,” MacDonald said. “If we start degrading our schools then people are really not going to come here.”   

The amended motion was rejected 4-2. The original motion to pass the budget as presented was then passed.  

There will be opportunities for changes to the budget, according to the district. The CSD will present it at the upcoming District Budget Meeting where residents can set budget amounts. In addition, there will be a one-question Budget Validation referendum June 11. If the budget is not approved by voters, there will be another budget set by the school board and the process repeats. “This is certainly not over,” MacDonald said.   

“If you find some other savings in the next few weeks ... tell us prior to this going to the public,” Splaine said. “Things can be changed even on the floor when we have our meeting. And that's when voters can tell us how they feel.”