Some of the Maine towns that make up Regional School Unit 22 hope the district will give a portion of its year-end surplus funds back to the communities.
The budget for RSU 22 — which serves Hampden, Frankfort, Newburgh and Winterport — was about $36 million last year. At the end of the year, it had $8.89 million, according to a June 2022 audit available on the district’s website. A year-end fund balance happens when a school district’s revenues exceed estimates, expenditures are less than the total of appropriated funds or some combination of these.
In Maine, public school districts must carry forward their fund balances to meet needs in the next year or over a three-year period. But if a district’s unallocated balance is more than 9 percent of the previous year’s budget, the district must form a plan to spend the money within three years, which might include giving a portion back to the towns it serves.
If money was returned to the four towns that RSU 22 serves, it could help ease the tax burden on residents if the district seeks more funding in the future, Winterport Town Manager Casey Ashey said. The funds, which must be used for educational purposes, would go into reserve accounts to supplement those increases, he said.
“It’s a win-win, really,” he said. “The towns can legally hold these funds in reserve accounts, and funds would still support the district.”
Winterport’s municipal budget is about $3.26 million, and its contribution to the district this year is about $3.37 million, Ashey said. More than half the town’s taxes go toward supporting the schools, which is a big deal for residents, he said.
RSU 22’s expenses came in well under budget because of positions the district budgeted for but was unable to fill, federal and local grants that covered the cost of projects, and a solar installation that saved the district more than $300,000, Superintendent Nicholas Raymond said.
Hampden Academy also accepted more non-resident tuition students than it anticipated, resulting in more revenue for the district, he said.
“Over a period of a few years, that fund balance rises pretty quickly,” he said, noting the district is in the early stages of developing a plan to spend the money.
That process involves putting together a list of the district’s priorities, which might include repairing a school’s roof or resurfacing the track at the high school, though no decisions have been made, Raymond said. The district could choose to put a portion of the funds into its four reserve accounts, he said.
Grant wants to see the district, through its budget process, return the millions of dollars in its year-end fund balance, she said. When she attended a finance committee meeting Aug. 7, she asked if checks could be issued to the towns and was told by members that they were not sure and would look into it, she said.
“I’m very disappointed,” she said. “I’d like to see the better portion of that money returned to the taxpayers of all the towns.”
The district cannot issue checks to citizens because the funds legally must be used for education, but “there is an absolute goal to give some of it back to the towns,” Raymond said.
This could happen as a lump sum or over three years, but more conversations are needed, which will likely happen when budget season begins in January, he said.
