The proposed AOS 77 budget for 2025-26, which is nearly 14% higher than the current budget, with a 7.1% hike in the amount raised through local taxation, failed to garner public support during a budget vote on Wednesday, February 26, at the Pembroke Elementary School. Unlike previous years for the vote by residents of the nine towns in the AOS, there was a large turnout, with approximately 130 attending.
      The vote on funding for system administration was decisive, with 29 in favor and 77 against. The results were met with one cheer followed by vigorous murmuring as those present discussed the proceedings.
      The drivers of the budget increase include raises for AOS central office staff and the cost of leasing the new office in Pembroke. While the rental cost last year was none when the office was located at the Eastport Elementary School, according to the budget, this coming year it will be $26,400, with an additional cost of $10,000, over two years, for an addition. The AOS board had voted last June to approve moving to the Triangle building in Pembroke, despite the cost increase, with space and security concerns at the Eastport school cited as reasons.
      Prior to the vote on the first articles, Superintendent MaryEllen Day shared several points of consideration with those in attendance, including how the increases reflect the raises and benefits being seen in schools themselves, as teachers' salaries and benefits are adjusted to new standards. In addition, Day pointed out that her office has seven employees when it used to be nine. One of the unfilled positions is the secretary to Special Education Director Beth Cushing, who currently files all of the paperwork herself. "That's an overwhelming job, but she did it to save money," Day says. Cushing's 5% raise to $94,500 was approved last year.
      As a point of comparison, Day shared figures from the 2008 09 budget, which she and Business Manager Chad Allen recently came across. That year, Eastport paid $210,781 for its share of the AOS budget, while this year it would pay $165,861. Lubec, meanwhile, paid $173,060 and would pay $180,410 under the new budget. The share borne by each town is determined by the number of resident students.
      The budget includes 5% raises for AOS central office positions, including for the superintendent, whose salary will be $107,100. Asked by Jeanne Pegrum of Eastport why the raises are not following the 2025 cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 2.5%, Day replied that the salaries had not been adjusted properly for some time, and the adjustments are meant to bring them up to where they need to be. In Day's own case, she remains the lowest paid superintendent in the state, she said.
nbsp;     Focusing on health insurance plans, Pegrum asked, "Is there a way to alter the plan so that the costs are absorbed by the employee rather than by the AOS?" Day replied, "If you don't offer decent salaries and good benefits, you aren't going to draw people here."
      Noting that taxes are going up to the point where some people are having to leave their hometowns, Pegrum continued, "We need to find a way to compromise. We need to find a way to be fiscally prudent."
      "We are the cheapest office around," Day said.
      A flurry of comments followed, including one about how Social Security recipients had an increase of 2.5% to their benefits and the question of whether Day would keep her office to a similar standard in the future. She replied, "I'm trying to get my employees where they need to be. Then we will likely go to the COLA rate."
      The first vote was to lump the articles with no dollar amounts into a single vote; it was met with no opposition.
      For the remaining votes, paper ballots were approved. The second vote was for the special education budget of $141,889. Ted Carter of Alexander, a retired school teacher, spoke in favor of the increases for the special education director. "To have one person willing to do this - I think we're getting a bargain." However, the article was defeated by a vote of 46 in favor and 59 against.
nbsp;     At that point, Day reminded those present that "you have contracts that have to be paid" and that if the budget is turned down, it could jeopardize the AOS's ability to function. "If you vote to lower this one, number 6, you are rewriting the budget. We don't have fat in this budget," Day said. She expressed frustration that those with strong opinions hadn't attended the previous AOS and school board meetings and noted that there are various ways of being informed about the meetings, including an email newsletter, flyers in town halls and social media.
      Laura Brown of Pembroke stated that the amount raised by taxation is increasing by $53,000, of which $31,533 is for the new AOS office location. "Last year, we didn't have a building. This is a correction," she said.
      Day agreed and said that if the AOS had stayed in its previous location at the Eastport Elementary School it would have had additional costs related to upgrading the infrastructure and adding a door, along with an increase to $10,000 in leasing fees.
      Matt Lacasse of Perry asked how the $53,672 breaks down for the average taxpayer. Day said that in some towns taxpayers will be paying less, such as Dennysville and Perry, saving $510 and $1,949 respectively, while others will go up. Eastport will go up $5,125 in total, while Lubec will go up $16,972. Charlotte, which had an increase of eight students, will go up by $14,348.
      Kevin Raye of Perry asked if the budget would be reworked if the next vote on system administration were to fail, specifically if the 5% raises would be adjusted to 3%.
      Day replied that the raises would not be adjusted, as the AOS joint school board had approved them, to which Raye asked why the public vote was even being held at all, a question met with enthusiastic support from some residents.
      "This is what the state forced you into when you voted for an AOS," Day said. She then said that if the vote did fail, the AOS board would have no choice but to lower the budget, but that it could mean a position lost.
      Residents then voted decisively to turn down the article for system administration, making any votes on the remaining articles moot.
      "This is not free," said Diane Brown of Charlotte, warning those present against making poorly considered votes in the future. "Every time we do this, it costs money."
      The AOS joint board will now convene at an undetermined date to reconsider the budget, after which another vote by residents of the nine towns will be held.