Because of the growing cost of sending students to the Maranacook area schools, Wayne officials have proposed cutting 5 percent from the town budget next year.

In the budget voters will consider at Town Meeting next week, the largest chunk of that cut will be in the town’s transfer station costs, resulting from a new agreement with the towns of Fayette and Readfield that has reduced Wayne’s obligation by $31,000, said Town Manager Aaron Chrostowsky.

The Town Meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Ladd Recreation Center.

A day earlier, voters will go to the polls to consider a $17.2 million school budget for Regional School Unit 38 — just over $13 million of which will be borne by residents in Readfield, Manchester, Mount Vernon and Wayne.

The district’s proposed budget is $725,000 higher than this year’s, and Wayne is expected to pay $2.2 million of it, which is the smallest portion owed by the four district towns.

While the town has offset past school budget increases by drawing from its surplus funds, it had less of those surplus funds available this year, Chrostowsky said. Because of the school budget increase, local officials have tried to limit town spending as much as possible next year.

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Besides the savings from a new transfer station, they also have proposed withholding a $15,000 payment the town normally makes into an account for a new office space, said Gary Kenny, chairman of the Selectboard. Town business now is run out of a classroom in Wayne Elementary School.

“When we realized the school budget was coming in so dramatically, we wanted to minimize the impact,” Chrostowsky said. “We took a hard look at the expense budget.”

One increase in the town budget that couldn’t be avoided is the repayment for debt that funded road repairs. Those debt repayments have jumped from $167,580 this year to $216,812 in the proposed town budget; but looking to the future, the town is close to being able to pay for its road repairs without incurring any debt, Kenny said.

The current tax rate is $14.83 per $1,000 of property valuation.

The new budget proposals would raise that rate by about $1.44 per $1,000 of property valuation, Kenny said. That means someone with a $100,000 home could pay $144 more next year.

Of the $3.48 million that residents will be asked to pay next year, about 32 percent is for town costs and 63 percent is for schools. The remainder will cover Kennebec County taxes, the Cobbosee Watershed District’s fees and a small amount that’s set aside every year for tax assessment purposes.

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At Town Meeting, residents also will consider passing a new ordinance that clearly defines the responsibilities of the town’s Budget Committee.

When residents head to the polls Tuesday, there will be two uncontested races for local office and several open positions that have no registered candidates, according to a sample ballot provided by Town Clerk Cathy Cook.

Kenny, the chairman, and Donald Walsh are both running for re-election to three-year terms on the Selectboard. There are no registered candidates for a five-year term on the Budget Committee, a three-year term on the Regional School Unit 38 board of directors and a pair of three-year terms on the local school committee.

Charles Eichacker — 621-5642

ceichacker@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @ceichacker

 


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