WALES — By a show of hands, voters gave preliminary approval to the new, trimmed RSU 4 school budget Wednesday night.

The $17.69 million budget for 2013-14 still has to face residents of Litchfield, Sabattus and Wales at the polls in a referendum vote Tuesday before becoming final.

Voters rejected a $17.75 million budget last month. It had passed narrowly in Litchfield and Wales but failed by a wider margin in Sabattus.

Superintendent Jim Hodgkin said 53 people came to Oak Hill High School to listen to the articles and to vote. It passed in less than an hour with little discussion.

Hodgkin said the tax impact to residents was $230,000 less under the new budget because of $55,000 in savings found in lower salaries, newly renegotiated contracts and $175,000 in additional state aid.

The anticipated impact on the tax rate for this proposal: 71 cents per $1,000 of property valuation in Litchfield, $1.28 in Sabattus and $1.11 in Wales.

On a $150,000 home, that would be a property tax bill increase of $107, $191 and $167, respectively, according to figures provided by the district.

Hodgkin said the district had cut quite a few things over the years and that the proposed school budget was $600,000 and 42.7 positions leaner than five years ago.

Heading into this referendum, “There’s a little more reason to be optimistic because we were able to reduce the tax burden,” he said.

“There are people just saying they can’t afford it,” Hodgkin said. “I’m scared about the budget not passing because we’ve made pretty significant cuts the last few years and it’s really not the taxpayers’ fault, it’s not the school board’s fault, that the (state funding) formula has really shifted the cost onto the locals. There’s not much more the school board can do and there’s not much more the taxpayers can do except pay their taxes; it’s a very tough position to be in.”

Should it fail a second time, the board would have to revisit the budget again.

To achieve no tax increase, $700,000 would have to be cut, “and that’s just not possible,” Hodgkin said.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Wales Town Office, the Sabattus Town Office and the Litchfield Sportsmen’s Club.

kskelton@sunjournal.com