2025-2026 District Budget Information:
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To The Voters of RSU 54/MSAD 54:
The Directors have worked hard over the past several months to develop a budget that balances providing quality programs and services for our students while trying to minimize the impact on local taxpayers. This year the Board’s budget includes a reduced local impact of 2.346%. The district received significant additional state funding for both the New Margaret Chase Smith Community School (MCSCS; $867,937) and Career and Technical Education (CTE; $652,515) which although it has no impact to the local budget, accounts for nearly 60% of the overall total budget increase for next year. The Board proposes a budget of $51,440,429 for 2025-2026, an overall increase of $2,554,221 or 5.22% more than the budget for 2024-2025. After removing state items which have no impact on local property taxes, the budget is up 2.115%.
The RSU 54/MSAD 54 Board of Directors’ Local budget shows an increase of $377,877.77 or 2.346% in overall Local Assessments for the 2025-2026 year, for a total of $16,482,307.29. MSAD 54 spending is well below the state average cost per student (-$1,741 less) and spends considerably less on school and district administration than the state average (-34.3% less).
The District’s Local Assessment is up 2.171% annually over the last seven years.
What factors are increasing the District Budget??
1) Dedicated State Funds: The vast majority of the budget increase was unavoidable and has NO IMPACT ON Local Property Taxes: $1,520,452 is additional state funding dedicated for CTE and the MCSCS School Project, which benefits our kids/district and has no impact to local property taxes. Although Local property taxpayers are paying $0 toward CTE or the MCSCS School, those funds account for 60% of the overall budget increase this year. Without these state funded costs the budget is up 2.115%.
2) Inflationary Costs: A primary driver of not only school budgets but personal budgets have been increased costs due to inflation. MSAD 54 has kept the overall local impact to 2.171% over the past 7 years, 43% below the national inflation rate of 3.786% over that same time.
3) Fixed Costs: The primary fixed cost in the district’s annual budget are employee costs, which make up roughly 86% of the district budget when you remove state funded debt service. This year additional fixed costs included a mandated increase to Educational Technicians, and mandated Maine paid family medical leave.
Did the MSAD 54 School Board work to keep costs down? YES.
In the fall of 2024, in an effort to capture savings to offset next year’s budget, the Superintendent froze spending district-wide. As presented, the budget includes significant cuts to spending including the reduction of 15 positions district wide. In addition to cuts, the Board has increased revenues by $485,750 and utilized $1,775,000 dollars in unassigned fund balance to reduce local property taxes. This effort is part of a multi-year approach the board has utilized to limit the impact on local property taxpayers.
Since the cost of operating the District is shared among the members of the towns (Canaan, Cornville, Mercer, Norridgewock, Skowhegan and Smithfield) on the basis of State Valuation, the actual amount of increase for each town varies between communities.
The 2025-2026 assessments, not including Adult Education, will increase as follows:
Canaan…… $62,175 Mercer………… $31,522 Skowhegan…… $83,880
Cornville…. $14,682 Norridgewock… $91,714 Smithfield……..$93,907
Several years ago, the Legislature passed laws that established how local districts would approve their school budgets. Consequently, the RSU 54/MSAD 54 budget process will again be in two parts. First, there will be a District Budget Meeting held on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Gymnasium. At this meeting, citizens will be voting on three (3) Appropriations Articles, eleven (11) Expenditure Articles, a Summary Article, and four additional articles including authorization to accept funds/donations, fund adult education, and to allow the Directors to transfer funds between cost centers when appropriate. This meeting will be followed by a district-wide Referendum Vote on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in each municipality where voters will vote on Article 1, a single “yes” or “no” question, which will validate the action that took place at the May 21, 2025 meeting.
Articles 1-11 requests authorization for the Board of Directors of RSU 54/MSAD 54 to spend the funds raised in Articles 12-14, in the areas of Regular Instruction, Special Education, CTE, Other Instruction, Student and Staff Support, System and School Administration, Transportation, Facilities and Maintenance, Debt Service, and Other Expenditures.
See Articles online at www.msad54.org or obtain copies at each town office, the RSU 54/MSAD 54 Superintendent’s Office and/or schools. A budget summary can be found at this link: https://bit.ly/3WfqPEh
Article 12 represents the District’s contribution to the total costs of funding public education for Pre-K to Grade 12, as described in the EPS Funding Act. These amounts of money, as determined by State law, are the minimum amounts the District must raise and assess in order to receive the full amount of State subsidy dollars.
State Share: $31,229,864 Local Share: $13,189,827
Article 13 requests authorization to raise and appropriate funds to pay Debt Service payments on school construction projects that were previously approved by District Voters but receive no State Subsidy. These costs are recognized by the EPS Funding Formula. $67,607
Article 14 requests authorization to raise and appropriate additional Local Funds to pay for the total costs of RSU 54/MSAD 54 public education. These funds represent the costs of operating District schools that the State funding model does not recognize. Additional Local: $3,224,874
Article 15 requests authorization to expend the total approved school budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. $51,440,429
Article 16 requests funds for Adult Education. Total: $407,146 Local: $140,000
Article 17 requests authorization to expend other sums (grants, etc.) as may be received from federal or state programs or other sources.
Article 18 requests authorization to transfer amounts exceeding 5% of the total appropriation for any cost center to another cost center or among other cost centers for the 2025-2026 fiscal year (this does not impact the total budget).
The Board of Directors of RSU 54/MSAD 54 urges all voters to attend the District Budget Meeting on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at Skowhegan Area High School at 7:00 p.m. and to Vote in the Validation Referendum on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in your own municipality. Absentee Ballots should be available in your town office starting May 22nd.
2025-2026 BUDGET PROPOSAL
District Budget Meeting, Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Skowhegan Area High School
and
School Budget Validation Referendum, Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Polls Open:
Canaan – 8:00 am to 7:00 pm
Cornville – 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Mercer – 8:00 am to 8:00 pm
Norridgewock – 8:00 am to 8:00 pm
Skowhegan – 7:00 am to 8:00 pm
Smithfield – 8:00 am to 8:00 pm
Detailed backup for this proposal is available at www.msad54.org as well as
at the Superintendent’s Office and/or your town office