This is the sixth and final segment in a six-part series about the district budget, with this week's focus on historical and regional comparisons. A reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday, June 10, is the ballot vote on the school district budget for fiscal year 2025-26. In addition to a question asking for approval of the budget, a second question asks if voters wish to continue with the annual budget validation referendum, which is an additional step given that voters also approve the budget at the annual district budget meeting held in May.
As I noted in Part 5: Budget Implications for Taxpayers, historically MSAD 51 has made efforts to keep both expenditures and tax increases below the rate of inflation, a trend that continued until 2023 when budget expenditures have incrementally increased in the post-pandemic era. Despite this, tax increases remain on the lower end, with the FY 26 tax effect for Cumberland at 3.7% and North Yarmouth 1.9%.
One area that is often referenced is cost per pupil. Per-Pupil costs are the raw average costs for educating a student in a school district in Maine and can be calculated taking the total expenditure budget for the district and dividing by the number of students. When a student moves in or out of the district, there is not an increase or decrease of the per-pupil amount made to the budget. Rather, this is an annualized adjustment handled through the regular budgeting process. These costs are broken out by the state’s prescribed 11 budget categories, or cost centers, as I discussed in Part 3: Budget Organization.
When compared to our five closest geographic neighbors, as seen below, our raw per-pupil expense of $24,095 is third amongst the six districts. However, when you factor in revenue (most of it from state subsidy), our adjusted per-pupil cost drops to $16,412, placing fourth among neighboring districts. The SAD's member towns of Cumberland and North Yarmouth are assessed only the adjusted per-pupil cost as part of the totality of the budget. In other words, MSAD 51 is a high receiver of state funding and other revenue, historically offsetting school taxes in both communities.
Did you miss a week in this budget series? Check out the five previous segments below:
Part 5: Budget Implications for Taxpayers
Part 4: Budget Impacts
Part 3: Budget Organization
Part 2: Determining Budget Priorities
Part 1: Budget Process