FARMINGTON – Voting places in the nine towns in the Mt. Blue Regional School District will be open Wednesday for residents to cast their ballot for the $25.4 million budget for 2011-12.

The amount represents about 15 percent more than what was raised for the current fiscal year. The $3.4 million increase is due to addition of the debt service on $80 million worth of new school construction. More than 95 percent of the costs for the new W. G. Mallett School and Mt. Blue High School will be paid for by the state, but the debt service had to included in the budget.

The local cost of the debt service, divided among the member towns according to property valuation, would be about $145,000 and was previously approved by district voters.

The day-to-day cost of operating the district is expected to be $150,000 over what was raised for 2010-11, or less than 1 percent, officials have said.

The Budget Committee made more than $600,000 in cuts from the initial budget draft that includes reductions in programs, operations, personnel and instruction. At the same time, the district lost $416,000 in state aid, officials said.

There will also be a $760,000 increase in fixed costs that include negotiated salary increases, heating oil, diesel fuel, health insurance increases and debt service.

The referendum validation vote, required by the state, is the final step in the budget process. Last week, at a district budget meeting at the high school, all 17 budget articles were overwhelmingly passed by about 75 residents.

On June 1, the single-question ballot requires a “yes” or “no” response. If voters approve of the action taken at the budget meeting, then a budget is considered adopted. If voters reject it, the school board will have to go back and approve a new budget and repeat the entire process, according to the law.

Referendum validation voting hours by town:

Chesterville, 1 to 6 p.m., Town Office

Farmington, 1 to 6 p.m., Community Center

Industry, 1 to 6 p.m., Town Hall

New Sharon, 1 to 6 p.m., Town Office

New Vineyard, 2 to 6 p.m., Smith Hall

Temple, 3 to 7 p.m., Town Hall

Vienna, 4 to 8 p.m., Fire Station

Weld, 4 to 8 p.m., Town Office

Wilton, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Office