Lewiston Residents to Vote for Third Time on School Budget Proposal

Lewiston voters are set to go to the polls Tuesday to weigh in for a third time on the town’s school budget after having rejected the two previous proposals put forth by local lawmakers.

Residents first voted down a potential school budget in May, with more than 65 percent of those who turned out to the polls expressing opposition.

At the June primary, voters were presented with a second version of the budget that had been paired down by about $1 million.

Even with these reductions, however, this proposal would have raised resident’s school property tax rate by nearly 13 percent, increasing the school portion of the mill rate by $1.68 and bringing it to a total of $13.85.

[RELATED: Lewiston Voters to Decide on School Budget That Would Hike Property Taxes 13%]

Although the margin of defeat was much closer in June, a majority of those who turned out to the polls — 54 percent — voted in opposition to the updated budget.

Superintendent Jake Langlais told the Lewiston Sun Journal in advance of the June primary that if voters rejected the budget again, the district would be forced to “pause hiring, reduce programming, and discontinue other items immediately.”

Since then, local officials have trimmed an additional $1.7 million off the total price tag.

To make these reductions, officials reportedly decided to cut 28 positions, as well as some funding for transportation and nutrition programs, library supplies, and special education.

Among the 28 cut jobs were several teachers and a school resource officer, according to WGME.

The budget put before voters Tuesday comes to a total of $109.6 million and will cost residents about $3 million less than the proposal advanced in May.

Accompanying this version of the budget would be a $1.16 mill rate increase, which would represent an approximate 9 percent school property tax rate hike.

During the meeting on Monday, it was noted that the increase included in the budget up for consideration Tuesday is lower than that which was approved last year, which came in at $1.34.

“If we don’t have this budget on July 9, we will have to freeze things immediately. I can see an immediate cease of after-school programming,” said Superintendent Langlais, according to WMTW.

“The further we go along in this process, the more we will get to a place where, regardless of the community vote, we will have to freeze or pause things,” Langlais said at a meeting Monday night. “Because if we don’t have an approved budget, we have to anticipate that we can’t move forward.”

Voting will take place Tuesday at the Longley School from 7am to 8pm.