AUBURN — A last-minute change of heart by Councilor Mike Farrell convinced councilors to swap a deep $2.5 million cut in the school budget for more modest cuts that would preserve state aid. Councilors set the school budget at $34.3 million and asked school officials to make up the difference with cuts or by using […]
budget
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
SAD 52 board to vote on next year’s budget
TURNER — A 2012 budget adopted by the SAD 52 school board last month will go to the community for a district budget vote at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, at Leavitt Area High School. All registered voters in the district are encouraged to attend. A week after that budget vote, the public Budget Validation […]
advertisement
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Oxford Hills
Oxford Hills school budget warrant, bond question OK’d
OXFORD – Oxford Hills School District directors on Monday night unanimously approved the warrant for the June 14 referendum for the $1 million in bonds or notes for capital projects. A public hearing on the bond question will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 6; a hearing on the $35.3 million school budget is set […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston officials: Parochial busing a matter of safety, money
LEWISTON — The decision about whether the city should continue to pay to bus parochial school students is all about safety, according to Mayor Larry Gilbert and a handful of parents in City Hall on Thursday night. “It’s the safest form of transportation for children to go to school,” Gilbert said during a joint City […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Cuts to Auburn schools would wipe out sports, reduce week to 4 days
AUBURN — If passed by voters, a $2.5 million cut in the proposed school budget made by the City Council on April 25 would mushroom to a larger $6.7 million cut due to a loss of state funds that would be “devastating” to students, the School Committee was told Wednesday night. Superintendent Tom Morrill explained […]
Posted inRiver Valley
Info session set on Smart Meters
MEXICO — A special public informational session was tentatively set for May 24 to provide residents with a chance to discuss the soon-to-be installed so-called Smart Meters. Selectmen at their regular board meeting Tuesday night learned that Central Maine Power Co. plans to begin installing the new meters that measure electricity usage at Mexico homes […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Auburn council calls for $2.5 million in cuts to school budget
AUBURN — A $2.5 million council directive will send the School Committee members and administration back to the budget books and could imperil a plan to provide iPad 2s to all city kindergarten students. Councilors voted 4-3 to direct the School Committee to cut $2.5 million from its $35.9 million proposed budget after a meandering […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Auburn anti-tax groups back in business
AUBURN — Former City Councilor Ron Potvin said his group of tax watchers had all but disbanded. Potvin’s group, Small Property Owners of Auburn, grew up in the wake of a 2005 property tax revaluation. “But this year we had some pretty conservative people on the council, and we liked the people we had on […]
Posted inOur View
Budget will test nation’s capacity to share sacrifice
On the eve of tax day, about half of Americans say they feel their federal taxes are fair, according to an Associated Press story. Which is less surprising when put in this context: about half of American households paid no federal income taxes at all in 2009. Either their incomes were too low or they […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bus funding safe from Lewiston cuts, councilors assure residents
LEWISTON — Funding for the Twin Cities’ bus system is pretty secure, city councilors said Tuesday, but sign-carrying supporters spoke up, anyway. Members of the Visible Community and a handful of bus riders attended the City Council’s review of agency funding Tuesday night, urging councilors to continue their support for bus service. The bus system […]