After voters rejected the Fairfield-area school district’s proposed budget in June, a reduced $35.2 million proposed budget won early approval at this week’s regional budget meeting.

The first version of the budget — $35.7 million — was approved by voters at May’s regional budget meeting, but was voted down 253-319 in the June referendum, which sent the budget back to the school district board.

In the second version, Maine School Administrative District 49 officials eliminated $439,000 and presented the revised spending plan Tuesday.

School board Chairperson Karen Kusiak said the updated proposal won support 50-19 at the secret ballot vote at the end of the meeting.

The regional budget meeting is the first step in approving the district’s budget; it goes next to a referendum vote Sept. 2.

The local share of the revised $35.2 million budget is $7,494,764, and it breaks down this way by municipality:

• Albion will raise $1,190,211;

• Benton will raise $1,532,320;

• Clinton will raise $1,636,528;

• Fairfield will raise $3,135,705.

The current version of the budget is a 2.7% increase over the 2024-25 fiscal year budget.

To limit spending in both attempts, cuts were made to utility projects and to teacher and staff positions. Sixteen positions were cut out of the initial draft of the proposed budget. Then, officials decided not to fill a part-time school counselor and world language teacher as part of the $439,000 in cuts.

Salaries and benefits for the school district’s 437 employees make up about 75% of the district budget.

“There were positions we would have liked to fund, but were cut originally when we presented the first draft to the community,” Kusiak said.

In June, voters in Benton, Clinton and Fairfield rejected the spending plan. Voters in Albion narrowly endorsed the budget.

Additionally, the district is unable to fund facility upgrades that, in some instances, are critically needed, like upgrades to make the football field and stadium safer, which Kusiak said brought concern from some parents.

“During the spring, the board met several times with our director of facilities, and he presented a number of reports for each building and talked about the state and quality of the buildings and outlined the repairs that are desirable,” Kusiak said. “There are very few that we were able to fund. I know there is concern about the maintenance budget and we tried to pick the most urgent items we could fund and afford that the town could support, but there are many other repairs and renovations needed on the facilities, including the sports fields.”

The Fairfield-area school district is not the only one whose budget is facing a challenge from voters. This year, voters in at least a dozen school districts across Maine have sent spending plans back to the boards that proposed them, looking for cuts.

The reasons vary, but a common concern among voters is property taxes increasing, especially in areas where residents are on fixed incomes. With the cost of utilities and services on the rise as state aid to schools stays at the same level, raising revenue through property taxes is the way to cover school district needs for which other funds are not available.

Fairfield Town Manager Michelle Flewelling echoed the sentiment that property taxes are a general concern of most people across Maine.

“The issue is, schools, municipalities and county governments are all dealing with the same increases that everyone else is,” Flewelling said. “Utilities, personnel, insurance, benefit packages. If you want a great staff to educate our children or run our municipalities, those things come with a price tag.”

Superintendent Roberta Hersom did not immediately return a call for comment.