The Gorham Times, Gorham, Maine's Community Newspaper

Staff Writer

Councilor Kuech resigned from her position with the School Department effective June 16. She will now be able to participate in future school votes where other conflicts of interest do not arise.

The following school budget items be adopted and approved for fiscal year 2020-2021:

Regular Instruction $18,924,148

Special Education $6,847,635

Career and Technical Education $0 Other Instruction $966,522

Student and Staff Support $3,343,231

System Administration $1,315,364

School Administration $2,248,730

Transportation and Buses $1,957,275

Facilities Maintenance $4,231,329

Debt Service and Other Commitments $2,564,045

All Other Expenditures $0

$42,398,279 of the school budget will be appropriated to fund public education from kindergarten to grade 12.

$13,882,278 will be raised as the municipality’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education.

$593,959 will be raised and appropriated for the annual payments on debt service.

The School Committee is authorized to expend $42,398,279 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2020 and ending June 30, 2021 from the municipality’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education.

The Town will appropriate $316,176 for adult education and raise $131,692 as the local share with authorization to expend any additional, incidental, or miscellaneous receipts in the interest and for the well-being of the adult education program.

$7,322,826 will be raised and appropriated in additional local funds, to fund the budget recommended by the School Committee. The approved budget exceeds the State’s Essential Programs and Services (EPS) allocation model by $7,322,826. The State’s EPS funding model only includes those costs considered essential by the new State EPS model.

The Town Council voted to adopt the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year Budget with the following departmental totals:

General Government $1,861,245

Public Safety $4,634,164

Public Works/Solid Waste/Engineering & Insp Services $2,986,867

Health & Welfare and Social Service Agencies $54,600

Recreation/CommunityCenter/Cable $591,878

Libraries and Museum $502,397

Development $155,749

Debt & Interest $2,113,588

Capital Items $35,000

Insurance and Employee Benefits $2,911,852

Other Town Services and Unclassified $335,732

Subtotal $16,183,072

Cumberland County Property Tax $1,329,231

Total $17,512,303

Non-Property Tax Revenues $7,808,127

The Education budget as approved by the Gorham Town Council and subsequently approved by the voters of the Town of Gorham will be incorporated into a final Municipal budget. The Town Council will vote to adopt the Capital Budget Part II in the amount of $2,256,931 to be funded from the town’s undesignated fund balance.

The Town Manager was authorized to enter into waste and recycling hauling agreement(s) for a period of up to five years.

The full minutes can be read at www.gorham-me.org.