The Maine School Administrative District 75 Board of Directors has endorsed a 5.7% budget increase for the 2026-27 school year that includes few changes to staffing or services.
At its meeting on Thursday, April 9, the school board unanimously approved the proposed budget, totaling about $61.2 million, compared with $57.9 million for the current year. The district includes Harpswell, Topsham, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham.
Voters in the four towns have the final authority to approve the budget in a two-step process: a town meeting-style vote in May and a referendum in June.
The budget includes $20.3 million for regular instruction, $12.1 million for special education, $6.5 million for facilities maintenance, $5.2 million for debt service, $4.6 million for administration, and $4.1 million for transportation and buses, among other costs.
District Business Manager Evan Howard said an initial budget proposal called for an increase of about 6.9%, but MSAD 75 staff trimmed costs wherever they could.
“The goal for this process … was really to put together a solid budget (while) minimizing taxpayer impact,” Howard told the board.
The few major additions would allow the district to hire two more school nurses — enough to keep one on staff at every school — and add more security cameras in schools. Superintendent of Schools Heidi O’Leary said in an email that the cameras would augment existing coverage in the schools, including Harpswell Community School.
Howard said the district’s costs continue to go up in certain key areas, including an 11.3% increase in health insurance costs and an increase of about 11% for property and liability insurance.
“Last year was a 13.8% increase (in health insurance costs), so we did come down a little bit, but we’re at the top of where our health insurance provider said we would be in terms of increases,” he told the board.
The portion of the budget funded by local towns would increase by 8.5% to about $37.3 million. Harpswell’s share of that would be roughly $12 million, a 6.2% increase from the current year. The budget’s passage also would trigger increases in town contributions of 9.2% from Topsham, 10.9% from Bowdoin and 9.9% from Bowdoinham.
According to the district, the budget would cause the average property tax bill to increase by about $166 in Harpswell, $357 in Topsham, $314 in Bowdoin and $305 in Bowdoinham. Districtwide, the average tax bill increase would be about $235.
The Harpswell Select Board set the tax rate in August last year. While the MSAD 75 assessment is the biggest factor at about 65%, the rate is also affected by the municipal budget, the county tax, growth of the tax base from development and other considerations.
The school district held several meetings to develop and discuss the budget, including three public forums in March at Harpswell Community School, Woodside Elementary School in Topsham, and Bowdoin Central School. No members of the public commented or asked questions at the Harpswell meeting.
Information about the proposed budget, including presentations and recordings of recent meetings, can be found on the school district’s website at link75.org/departments/business-office.
Voters will weigh in at the district budget meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 21, at the Orion Performing Arts Center at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham. The final vote will be a budget validation referendum set for June 9.
