Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Community School District’s school committee tabled the $10,898,543 2021-2022 budget for the third time May 12. Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 Superintendent Keith Laser recommended the committee approve the budget despite ongoing negotiations with Boothbay Region Education Association and educational technicians so the CSD could close out fiscal year 2020-2021 June 30.

Boothbay Harbor resident Tom Perkins said he was concerned about the committee moving too quickly considering Maine Department of Education directives for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds are not yet clear. He also said the CSD should not be raising the budget at all and should perhaps be asking less than the last fiscal year considering the undesignated fund balance is great enough to apply a bit more to lower costs to taxpayers.

“We're going to need the taxpayers on our side if we're going to ask them to potentially provide tens of millions of dollars to fund a new school,” said Perkins. “Given all the hardships they've endured over the past year or more, this is really not the time to ask them for more money than we really need.”

Laser said putting the budget off more might put a public vote beyond June 30 and while that did not pose a problem last year, his recommendation to close out CSD books on time is to keep unfinished business to a minimum for incoming Superintendent Robert Kahler and to have a sure number for undesignated funds from fiscal year 2020-2021, since the CSD will continue to run on that budget beyond June 30.

Taking more from the CSD’s undesignated fund balance means less reserves later, should an emergency arise, Laser said. The draft budget applies $625,000 to the budget bringing the increase to 2.6% for taxpayers. The CSD has expended 77% of its current budget so far, where it has historically been around 86%, he said. “You're already taking a pretty big chunk out of your unassigned fund balance … I don't think you're going to have $1 million left over at the end of this year or anywhere close to that, but you're definitely going to be in the black with some of these numbers. How much I don't know.”

Committee member John Bertolet said he does not believe the board needs to hold up the budget over contract negotiations since the budget accounts for an increase in spending. However, he agreed if the rest of the committee wanted to put the budget off another meeting, he would vote that way, too. “The only benefit to putting it off another month is that we have more concrete end-of-the-year figures … As far as using the fund balance goes, I think we've used about as much as we should … unless we find as we come through the next couple weeks that we are under (budget) substantially.”

The committee voted unanimously to table the budget and Laser responded if members approve it by the June 9 meeting, there may be enough time to get a public vote before June 30.