By Cliff White

Staff Writer

The annual budget for Maine School Administrative District No. 6 (SAD6) was presented to the full board by the budget committee Monday.

“The committee gave an overview of what this budget does, and projected increases,” SAD6 Superintendent Suzanne Lukas said. “There’s still a couple of things being worked on, but we’ll probably get definitive word on those numbers this week and be able to deliberate on the budget on Monday.”

Lukas said a potential delay in the proceedings was the move to a new budget validation process, mandated by the state. 

“So far, the district has received three different fiscal reports from the state – a preliminary one, one from the education committee, one from the governor’s office, and we were cautioned neither one nor the other was sure of being accurate,” Lukas said.

Lukas said she hopes to see the district budget approved by the board and go to referendum some time in early May, but unforeseen delays by the state could threaten to push the process past July 1, the date the district’s fiscal year begins.

“Before voters can approve a budget they need to know what impact it will have locally,” Lukas said. “And that’s still a big question mark.”

The budget will come under consideration by the full board at 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 24 at the Bonny Eagle Middle School.