FARMINGTON – Residents of the Regional School Unit 9 towns will go to the polls to cast their votes on this year’s school budget for the third time Tuesday. At stake will be approximately $980,000 in cuts made to the school board’s proposed budget at the Sept. 5 budget meeting.
Poll locations and times can be found below.
Last Tuesday, more than 300 residents approved a $32,656,920 budget. That included flat-funding every cost center at the same figure approved for the previous fiscal year’s budget, with the exception of debt service, which was reduced by $92,000 as previously recommended. If validated at Tuesday’s referendum, the budget would represent a 0.28 percent decrease in expenditures as compared to the previous fiscal year.
Reductions, as compared to school board’s recommended budget include $84,000 to regular instruction; $545,000 to special education; $24,000 to the Foster Technology Center’s budget; $13,500 from athletics and co-curricular activities; $48,000 from student and staff support – a broad category that includes guidance services, school nurses, libraries, staff development and student assessment funds; $24,000 out of system administration – which includes central office and technology administration, as well as the school board; $65,000 out of school administration; $122,000 out of transportation; and $55,000 out of facilities maintenance. In addition to leaving the debt service reduction unchanged, voters at the Sept. 5 meeting made no adjustment to Article 11: All Other Expenditures, which in RSU 9 historically includes no funding.
Coupled with the $267,444 property tax assessment reduction in the director’s originally-proposed budget, the budget approved at Tuesday’s meeting would represent a $1,247,617 reduction to property tax assessments as compared to the previous fiscal year, or 9.8 percent.
The special education cut has garnered perhaps the most commentary from school officials, educators and taxpayers since the Sept. 5 meeting. Those in favor of the reduction had expressed the belief that the district’s special education costs have risen too rapidly too quickly. Those opposed to the proposed reduction from the board’s budget have argued that meeting special needs of qualifying students is a legal requirement, meaning the $545,000 reduction would need to be paid for by funds shifted out of other cost centers.
Tuesday’s vote is a simple yes/no vote that will take place in a referendum-styled vote in all 10 towns. It is the third such vote in RSU 9 this year; previous budgets of $33.9 million and $33.6 million were both voted down at earlier referendums by 184 votes and 139 votes, respectively.
A “yes” vote approves the $32.6 million budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year. A “no” vote rejects the budget, effectively restarting the process for the third time.
Polling places and times (note: some times have changed since the previous vote)
Chesterville Town Office, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Farmington Community Center, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Industry Town Hall, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
New Sharon Town Office, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
New Vineyard Smith Hall, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Starks Community Center, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Temple Town Hall, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Vienna Fire Station, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Weld Town Office, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Wilton Town Office, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To all who have complained about the RSU9’S yearly increases, this is your chance, and maybe the last chance for a while to stop those increases. DON’T complain if the “nos” cause a return to start this process all over. Get out, bring your neighbors, friends ,and relatives and vote “YES” to a budget that the school operated on last year and prove to them that they can operate on it again! REMEMBER, VOTE YES TUESDAY AT YOUR TOWN’S POLES. GOOD MORNING AND GOOD LUCK.
Either way the vote goes, I hope people have learned from this experience. Tax payers are sick of being the bank for schools. Schools are sick of not being able to plan. At the rally yesterday did the kids learn anything? The one thing they didn’t learn was the consequences of their actions if their demands are met.
Maybe there will be compromise after all this. Maybe not. But the schools HAVE to start listening. They’ve had it their way for too long.
I believe these cuts are too large and will badly impact too may students. Lets get back to the 2% tax cut, instead of a 9.8% cut.
Thank you to all those that were at the rally. I was there in spirit but I could not attend because I had to care for my special needs son who some “yes” voters think should be thrown out with the trash. He and every child in this district deserve an enriched education so they can be all they can be. If we withhold money from our kids education we will be paying so much more later when they cannot get a good job, wind up in jail or worse. Please vote “NO” today.
I find it interesting how so many “Yes” voters attack and belittle the process and the school board while hiding behind a pseudonym. I cannot respect anyone’s opinion that belittles and attacks from the shadows. While I disagree with the yes voters I commend those that use their real name and are not afraid to express their views.. However there is no cause for the vicious attacks that some well known people have made. There is no excuse to vandalize and remove NO signs. There is no excuse to behave like a pack of rabid dingos. Lets vote NO and have a reasonable discussion about the issues and discuss the TRUTHS AND REALITIES of what out taxes are and where they go. Blatantly ignoring the facts and drinking the Kool-Aid without thinking on your own is not a respectable option. Thank you for voting NO
Vote no and go back to the drawing board and compromise.
Unfortunately this vote is going to be controlled by the UMF student voters who have been recruited by one side to tilt the vote in their favor. It is the only way they could win. This is not fake news. Not appropriate to have long time residents property taxes decided by temporary residents.
Nancy: Please not last years budget request from local tax payers was flat funded across the ten towns, and this years request was recently for a 2% decrease in property taxes. The school board is listening, and working to balance taxpayer needs with the needs of the students.
The school has cut the local tax burden each year. Overall local taxes have gone up, but people are blaming the wrong expenditure. Taxes also pay for plowing the roads, police, firefighters, etc… Cutting education has decades-long consequences and it’s sad/ironic to see it happen due to ignorance.
I’m voting NO! so that the children and adults in this community can benefit from a better and more well rounded education. If we dumb down our education, we will create uninterested and non-participatory adults. School is not just about reading, writing and arithmetic! Studies have shown over, and OVER again not just the benefits of extracurricular activities, but the necessity for them!
The benefits are, but are not limited to:
-Children learn time management and prioritizing
-Children explore and develop a more diverse interests and expand their thinking!!
-Children who have a more well rounded education will make more of a contribution to their communities as adults
-It builds self-esteem
-Those applying for college will have a benefit with showing their participation in wider school activities
-Kids become better goal setters and achievers having had experience with extra curricular activities
-They learn teamwork and build on their communication skills and interpersonal skills
-And they actually perform better in academics with participation in music, sports, art, clubs, etc.
Voting NO! So we can grow wiser and better as a community.
I keep hearing our district compared to neighboring districts, claiming that we’re spending way more than they are. I took the time to actually look at the official statistics, and they say a much different story. We spend 9.4% less than the state average on our students. 7.5% less than Skowhegan, the district that’s always brought up to specifically show we’re overspending.
Check the numbers for yourself, and then vote no to protect our schools. They deserve better.
http://brycemoore.com/blog/a-comparison-of-school-district-budget-spending-in-maine/
*also, this budget vote isn’t a simple freeze of last year’s budget like some people have suggested. The school district has legally mandated costs that have gone up. Those increased costs would not come out of local taxes, so people freaking out about paying more taxes is rather silly. The local tax burden would have still gone down (as planned originally). With this vote – the already decreased budget will cut even more from the school system. The higher legally mandated costs will be paid no matter how many other programs are slashed.
“To all who have complained about the RSU9’S yearly increases,” please start getting involved in monthly board meetings, talk to school administrators when issues arise, and take a more active role in addressing early what concerns you. Don’t just wait until the last minute and stymie all the hard work that those you have elected worked so long to put in place!
Let’s vote NO today and then work to make things better.
Looking at the cuts,it amazes me that students and those directly involved with students are affected. Administrative cuts need to be made from the top.
West West Farmingtonite- I completely agree with you. I read the email sent out through UMF. Is this even legal? Are college students living in the dorm allowed to vote? I didn’t think that they were considered local residents. When I went to UMF years ago, I had gone to the public library in Farmington to get a library card and was told I had to pay for it because I wasn’t a Farmington resident. I had planned on asking this question today when I went to vote.
This article includes misleading wording about the voting last week. About 300 people voted, but only 200 of them voted in favor of the flat-funded budget. The wording here suggests that approval was unanimous. If it were me, I would re-write the sentence to something closer to “A flat-funded budget was passed by a margin of 2-to-1 with three hundred voters in attendance”.
On June 13th, the budget presented was voted down during a validation vote, with 1641 opposed and 1457 for. The budget was tweaked, but just barely, and re-sent to the voters for a validation vote. It was voted down again, this time with 1429 opposed and 1290 for. Concerned voters showed up at the budget meeting last Tuesday and overwhelmingly passed a budget that allows the school to operate on last years budget. This is very doable.
I urge all registered voters from all 10 towns to vote YES to validate this budget. If we cannot get a handle on this budget and show up and vote, then I fear it will not be long before we are staring at a $40 Million budget and your concern as a taxpayer will be shrugged off.
The voting margins are incredibly thin, so please show up and vote…VOTE YES!!
It is misleading to couple the property tax assessment with the school budget. This debate is about school budget only. And why on earth can college students, unless they are from rsu 9, vote on this local issue?
I guarantee that the difference will not be UMF students voting. Some may vote, but it’ll be a tiny number if they do. This is not being talked about on campus, as a new semester is under way and there are things more important for UMF students. So unless the “no” side wins by ten votes or so, there is no way this will be decided by UMF students, most of whom are not registered to vote in this district.
The school board has been listening – the recognition of a strong opponent to the budget was part of every deliberation, and why we ended up with a frugal budget. The increases come from required spending, not from anything new. We are asking less of tax payers the second year in a row.
Listening is a two way street. However the vote goes, I am willing to listen, and hope those with a different view are able to listen as well. I promise no animosity or anger if “my” side loses, because I respect everyone in the community as having a legitimate point of view. I hope everyone will agree not to make this personal, we can disagree and still get along.
Captain, many on the “cut it” side refer to ever increasing property taxes as the reason to cut the operating budget. Last January, the Board began deliberations, with the goal of a zero increase in property taxes.
They achieved that goal, and were forced to go further, and reduce the requested budget by about $790,000, for an over all property tax decrease of a little over 2%.
The Board and Admin work to balance increase student needs, with the ability to cover the budget. We are much less expensive for educating students than most districts in Maine, including all of the surrounding districts.
Please look at the comments and you will see many refer to the need to hold the line on property taxes…….
Scott Erb
There was an email that went to college students encouraging them to vote. All of the emails that have circulated on campus are all the same voters. I have a hard time believing that the college students are hearing an unbiased opinion of this issue. And frankly I hope that they aren’t a deciding vote as they really shouldn’t even be able to vote as they are not taxpayers if they are living in the dorms.
Scott Erb, If it is not being talked about then how do you explain the many emails that were sent out on the campus listserve by Faculty urging students to vote No and explaining the process on how they can register to vote in Farmington even though they are not technically living here. Explain to me how someone living in a residence hall on campus has a right to vote on my property taxes. By the way I work for UMF and there has been plenty of talk on campus.
If it is legal, it is legal.
Still don’t understand the special need budget all I have see is a dollar amount and that legally obligated to supply for student needs the students that had there protest seem to think more money will solve the problem and it my for one year but not long term and i also saw comments on here from student saying dont cut the budget i dont want to loose sport music ect. This is ware unfair come.in to play I would like to point out to these students that the school / state are asking us to choose if the budget get to high this in tern will also affect you in the future like if your parents have to choose between paying more of your college out of pocket or paying there taxes and you the student having to take out more college loans and having to pay them back after you graduate so please think about how much you are willing to sacrifice for others in the long term I would like to better understand this is there a brake down sheet to how this money is spent x-amount for special needs staff /equipment/ class room supply’s what changes to areas in the school needing up grades to make sure any student can go and use any area and if a special needs student get maine care or government assistance at home do the tax payers pay for items at home than buy the same things for school so are we the tax payers paying twice for one person I don’t feel as if any person wants to see any student at the school to not have the opportunity to learn or play sports but as we are all in different financial places I can see both sides I do how ever most people really just want to know is there a point in witch a budget will be a nuff when parents have to start choosing to eather pay property tax or supply there kids with what they need it makes people very unsettled there are so many parents that work so hard to make sure there children can have a better future but when it comes down to paying property tax or your child getting to go play a sport they like or a school trip to learn and you can’t afford to sent them and there is a lot of extra cost that schools don’t cover for these things and a lot of kids don’t get to do these because of the financial switchuation at home but are being told they have to cover the full amount for someone else child this is not fair to other student there has to be a balance some ware and it my even have to go higher than a town and school system I feel as if every student no matter what should have the same dollar amount spent on them that is fair not a open ended budget on one student and a cap on another
I hate to rain on people’s parade, but there are plenty of UMF students who grew up in and still live in this school district. This is as much their home as it is yours. Can you blame them for wanting to make it a place they’d want to stay and raise their own kids? Our most promising young adults are leaving for greener pastures – this vote could make that even worse. Many of the students (and faculty) have kids of their own already attending public school. Kids living in the dorms are unlikely to be the ones voting even if they happen to be eligible.
Vote NO and send the Board back to make reasonable cuts that will not decimate our schools. Losing 30+ positions, increasing class sizes, and cutting student activities does not seem reasonable.
This is not a vote of property tax payers. This is a vote of residents of the towns of RSU 9. Just because you own your houses, God bless you, doesn’t make you more powerful than those who rent. Many people who own property pay their property taxes through the renters who occupy their buildings, some of whom attend UMF. So if you are registered to vote, and can prove you live here with a document like a piece of mail, you can vote in this election and you have every right to. But Scott’s right; very few college kids starting a new semester have the time outside their own academic and social lives to go vote against an immoral school budget proposal. They are great kids, though, if they do.
Just reading the latest emails circulating around UMF. Sounds like plenty of discussion to me. Teachers having discussions in class, fitness center employees talking with students on how they can help with the no votes. I even heard one professor say they thought it would impact UMF students and their ability to get a job. Scare tactics. And if a student lives in a dorm, they pay rent to the university which pays $0 in property taxes. Should be no vote allowed for them. Scott Erb says UMF will have a minimal impact on the vote. I bet you’re smiling all the way to class Scott. UMF will be the game changer on this one. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
What is immoral is using the UMF students as pawns in this local budget fight. What a disgraceful, low down tactic. Is this revenge for the “average” taxpayer standing up to the board on September 5th?
I really haven’t heard talk of it at UMF, but I suspect an issue this contentious will get peoples’ attention. I’m stand by my claim that they will not make the difference, and only a handful will actually vote. If the no side wins by 50 votes or less, then it’s possible UMF made the difference. I for one have not been asking students to vote or discussing it.
I do like how there is a huge voter turnout in all venues, and here in Farmington the stream of voters has been steady, often with lines (I live nearby and take a peek at the Community Center now and then). If the yes side wins, then I’ll know it is really the community will and not a vocal minority taking advantage of low voter turnout. At the very least, the community is engaged, and that’s a good thing. We have to just avoid hard feelings with one another over this – in a democracy disagreement is good and should be welcomed.
Does anyone on the ‘Yes’ side have a comment on the fact that Mt. Blue taxpayers are paying less per student than Skowhegan taxpayers are paying (the school that has been held up as the example of having a more conservative budget)? How about the fact that Mt. Blue teachers are paid less than surrounding schools? Is your concern that the Superintendent is making 6 figures? What do you expect to pay for a position that requires that level of education, and carries with it tremendous responsibility? Our school system should be our biggest selling point to attract new business and families to our area, but this process, and the publicity that it is attracting is not painting a positive picture of our community. This has been stated and explained many times, but I will get it out there one more time….the explosive growth of the budget is due to the fact that the recent capital expenditures (updates of our schools) has to show on the budget, even though almost all that expense is paid by the state. Taxes haven’t gone up significantly due to local school expenditures!
The people who should be upset are the citizens of Maine….Their state government prioritized our area schools to be invested in, and now a segment of our community is showing that they place no value in education….someone used the word ‘ironic’ earlier, which was appropriate (people arguing that the area is too financially depressed to fully support the future of our kids)….I have other words to describe this…sad, pathetic, short sighted, greedy.
Yes, I said greedy….from my viewpoint, people who push for unreasonable cuts in the school budgets are unwilling to make the same investment in our kids that was made for them a generation or more ago. The fact that they may have not taken advantage of that investment, and thus aren’t financially secure now is on them, not on the kids that will be negatively impacted by these cuts.
By the way, I’m not a teacher or administrator…..I took a look at what teachers get paid, and decided on a different career. Anyone who says that teachers are overpaid in our society just isn’t being honest, and if you feel that Administrators are overpaid, I strongly urge you to go back to school to get the needed education, and then to work your way into one of those leadership positions (it can’t be that hard, right?). Oh, you don’t want to invest the time and money to get this education, and you don’t want to carry that level of pressure on your shoulders every day? Maybe administrators aren’t so overpaid after all. Last comment….are you really willing follow Nancy Porter down this road? She may lead you to lower taxes for the short term, but the long term outcome isn’t going to be pretty.
Democracy isn’t supposed to be based on how much each person pays. That would give all the power to the richest people. Please think through the “they shouldn’t get to vote if they don’t pay property taxes” idea. It’s a very slippery slope to start down. Voting rights based on land ownership was an idea that was rejected long ago for very good reasons.
I feel like voting no only to get more cuts…..
How ya gonna like that?
West West Farmingtonite….You are correct that UMF pays no taxes directly to Farmington. But, where would this community be without UMF? There would be many less taxpayers on our dockets (professors, admin, facilities, etc.). And without the 2000 students, some area businesses would struggle even more, and would provide less jobs. I don’t mean to pick on you, but your logic is consistent with what I see from many on the ‘yes’ side….very one dimensional, and self serving. It’s not a surprise that some UMF students would want to engage in this issue….many have local ties, and really, when you peel this issue back, the real separator between the ‘yes’ voters and the ‘no’ voters is the value that is placed on education. Those paying for an education to improve their future prospects would certainly sku toward the ‘no’ side.
I went to vote on the school budget this afternoon in Farmington at approximately 4 p.m.. I waited in line behind approximately 10 UMF students, all of who were probably convinced to vote NO by the UMF staff. Do these students pay property taxes? Nope. I can’t afford to foot their bill.
I voted yes today and I am going to tell you why. I voted yes today because the men, and one woman, the administrators up here in the hills of Maine make more money, thousands and thousands and thousands more, than the governor of our state. Why is this? Superintendents, special education administrators, and principals only need a master’s degree, just like highly qualified teachers in our schools, to be qualified to do their job. Remember, administrators’ jobs are not harder than teachers’ jobs, they are just different. Teachers are the people who are in the trenches of educating the students, not the administrators. Administrators’ salaries are out of touch with the job they do and where they work, here in the Hills of Maine where the poor struggle daily to pay for taxes, food, clothing, shelter, medical bills….you know the drill. Public education is not the proper place to support a Good Ole’ Boy Network making six figures or eighty thousand or eighty-five thousand or ninety thousand or ninety-five thousand dollars. Since when does a person with a master’s degree in a public servant position earn that kind of pay? Professors, PhD scholars, don’t even make that amount of money is public universities. If the administrators were worth their weight in gold, our students would be doing better and scoring higher on the state and national tests.
I am going to continue to address this issue at the state level as well.
Here is a thought: The budget vote will most likely be swayed by the college students who have nothing invested .Lets petition to have UMF dissolved and leave Farmington. With all the buildings, we could then make them into senior housing, and increase Farmington’s tax base. Then the school can increase its spending as Farmington will pay more by valuation!
Concerned Citizen,
Not once but Twice, there was no real compromise as Theft was at hand once again.
Call it what you want, enlist the kids, Liberals will never do the right thing, just the easy thing.
It’s the way it’s is. This school district is a disgrace.
These comments keep developing into a very clear message. The people who want more cuts are doing so out of a mistrust and even hatred of our educators and education in general. It isn’t based on numbers (those back the other side). Comments labeling our teachers with words like “thief”, “disgrace”, and “immoral” are cheap shots meant to distract from the facts. There is no increase on the local tax burden due to our school district. In fact, it’s been going down each year. People are refusing to understand that the school budget isn’t paid for solely by local taxes. The increases in the overall school budget (increases required by law) would have been paid for by other sources. The attacks on education will cost our community dearly in the long term.
@Town TAXPAYER, I was there waiting in line at 4pm today and I didn’t see any UMF students? I was in a line to the door with other taxpayers mostly older than me and I’m a middle age person. As I left many people, elderly and middle age, were in the parking lot. It’s easy to make things up and post it on the bulldog but…. Really? That’s how you have to do it?
@ Refreshing? “This school district is a disgrace.” It’s viscous and unwarranted comments like this that make our community a disgrace.
Personally I don’t care how anyone votes because it’s your business and I expect the same but harsh feelings and words of anger have turned this into an dramatic jealous spectacle, Purely childish.
Nice job New Sharon…it’s too bad the UMF Liberals who will never pay taxes got more say then you.
More cuts, that be sweet send them a 29 million budget.
* I also wanted to mention that non-land owners do help fund our schools. There are other taxes besides property taxes. A large percentage of school funding is from the federal and state government. The only way to avoid funding our schools is to buy absolutely nothing (sales tax) or have no income (income tax).
I would like to address the constant bashing of our superintendent. Dr. Tom Ward is on our side people..he has a vested interest in our children’s educational success. And to “Voted Yes”, Tom Ward IS worth his weight in gold….he DOES much more than some others, he goes WAY above and beyond his job daily, he is ALWAYS involved with whatever is going on at school, whether it be an I.E.P Meeting, meeting with a concerned parent, committee meetings, basketball games, football games, etc. He was even at my sons violin recital. He is a family man who cares deeply about our school. People want to attack him for the amount of his salary, or say that he is spoon feeding the board information he expects them to go by…let me tell you that I have known Tom for many, many years and have sat with him on a the Drop Out Prevention Committee, and he never once acted like he was the BOSS, or expected any of us to give him special treatment or go with what he was saying just because he was the superintendent. Imagine being in Tom’s shoes……to all of you who judge him, since my son’s have started school it’s been a struggle. You see, two of my three sons have autism, and every day there is a new challenge. School faculty at another school mistreated my oldest son, both physically and emotionally to the point that he has PTSD because of it. When we moved back to Farmington I met with Tom and told him what we had been through and that I refused to ever allow anyone to treat my children that way again. He listened and supported us as a family. When my sons started school at CBS things were rough. It became apparent that they needed more than the staff could provide, and Tom was very supportive in the process to find alternative placements. Tom is the ONLY Super to EVER come to the I.E.P meetings for my boys and we have had hundreds of them. I think we should all feel fortunate to have someone like Dr. Tom.
Jean Mason,
You are wrong. He is one of the top problems. Liberal yes, effective no.
cwarren – without the money UMF brings in – students, salaries for workers (who would be unemployed – janitors, staff, everyone), then Farmington would have an economic crisis. However, I bet that the result will NOT be due to UMF. In fact, if you look at the three towns (New Sharon, Temple and Wilton) reporting as I write this, the no vote is likely headed to a massive victory. That could change, but anything over 50 votes can’t be caused by UMF. And if the “no” wins by an amount in the hundreds, that is a sign of how the community really feels.
Though if somehow the ‘yes’ vote does win, that will be a sign that it was not just a determined minority, but the community really feels that way. So we’ll see!
@CWarren
Do you have any idea how large UMF is as an employer to our community?
Do you have any idea how much Farmington’s economy depends on the school?
Do you realize without the University, the hospital or RSU 9 there would be almost NO decent paying jobs here.
Apparently not.
‘”REFRESHING”, sadly you are the one who is wrong……we need Tom Ward, he is good for our kids
UMF brings in over $40,000,000 a year right? Ahh, let em stay….please cWarren?
Something makes me think there were not 700 UMF students at the polls. Dang there goes that excuse. Maybe the community really does want to support the students…
Many of the UMF students who live in the dorms and who wanted to vote are future teachers. Many of them have volunteered or done student teaching in our schools. They love kids, and they also were concerned about the possibility that a number of new hires were likely to be let go, because that’s who they will be very soon. By the way, a number of them have jobs while they are in school, so there’s a good chance they are paying some taxes, if not property taxes (besides, voting isn’t just for landowners — that went out in the 1700’s).
The budget meeting is at 7 pm in the forum.