Maine News Updates

MONMOUTH—Property owners here will be asked to shell out an additional $300,000 for education next year if voters accept the budget proposed for the new Regional School Unit 2.

Superintendent Donald Siviski, as well as Monmouth representatives to the RSU 2 school board, will explain the budget and answer questions during a meeting with town officials and residents scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the town office.

Spending across RSU 2, which also includes Hall-Dale schools, Dresden and Richmond, will reach nearly $25 million in the 2009-10 budget.

Joining forces will save about $1 million from what the four individual school systems are expected to spend during the current school year.

Monmouth will not share in those savings, however. The town’s share of the RSU budget, about $7.7 million, is up $200,000 from this year, said Town Manager Curtis Lunt.

And, with less money from the state, residents will take an even bigger hit. The town will have to raise an additional $300,000 in property taxes if the proposed budget passes, Lunt said.

Property owners will be asked to pay $3.2 million of the town's $7.7 million share of the RSU 2 budget—the state will pick up the rest of the tab.

School officials plan to use $300,000 in money left over from previous years to reduce Monmouth’s local contribution to $2.9 million, Lunt said, but the total is still up about $300,000 from what the town raised for this year’s budget.

The increase in local spending would mean a $112 jump in property taxes for somebody who owns a $150,000 home, Lunt said.