Lisbon voters have rejected the town’s proposed school budget of more than $21 million for the second time this year.
This comes amidst significant controversy surrounding tax hikes resulting from the municipal budget that was approved earlier this year despite strong opposition from residents.
21 percent of registered Lisbon voters turned out to the polls on August 5th to weigh in on the school budget, up notably from the already substantial 16 percent that cast ballots back in June.
Nearly 60 percent of voters rejected the budget as it currently stands, representing a slightly slimmer margin than the original 69 percent who opposed the school budget in June.
About two-thirds of Lisbon residents who voted this past Tuesday indicated that the current school budget is too high.
Click Here to See the Full Election Results
The Lewiston Sun Journal reported that the budget put before voters earlier this week was exactly the same as the one that was up for consideration two months ago, a seemingly nonsensical move that only makes more sense given broader context.
While Lisbon residents are able to vote directly on the school budget, the same cannot be said for the municipal budget. Under the town’s charter, the municipal budget needs only to be approved by the Town Council in order to take effect.
This year, residents are facing an 18.6 percent tax increase to pay for the municipal budget alone due, in part, to a clerical error that overestimated the town’s revenue by $2 million.
It was suggested in the Sun Journal report that residents opted to express their dissatisfaction with the municipal budget by rejecting the school budget at the ballot box.
For this reason, the local paper implied that councilors gave voters the same budget to reconsider this week in hopes that residents would not again use it as a protest vote against the municipal budget.
Regardless of voters’ underlying reasoning, this budget was rejected for a second time earlier this week, sending local lawmakers back to the drawing board.
With the school year starting, local ordinances dictate that the school district will now be required to operate, for the time being, under last year’s budget, which is nearly $600,000 less than the proposal put before voters this summer.
According to Superintendent Richard Green, services that may be trimmed in order to close this gap could include adult education, some currently vacant co-curricular positions, cleaning and mowing services, or one of the two school resource officers.
In response to a petition from residents upset about their lack of a voice in the budgeting process, the Town Council placed a question on this November’s ballot that will allow voters to approve the creation of a commission tasked with revising the town’s charter.
It is expected that giving residents a direct voice in the adoption of their municipal budget will be the primary focus of this group if its creation gets the green light from voters later this year.
